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All firms to report non-financial misconduct on references from late 2026
Regulatory employment references will include "substantiated" cases of bullying, harassment and violence across the industry from September next year - the date when the FCA extends its non-financial misconduct rules from the banks across the whole regulated sector.
Online Published Date:
02 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Monzo fined £21m after accepting suspect addresses like 'Buckingham Palace'
Monzo Bank plc has been penalised £21 million for running inadequate anti-financial crime systems for nearly four years between 2018 and 2022, when it was onboarding clients with addresses as suspicious as Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street and the bank's own location in Shoreditch.
Online Published Date:
08 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Mastercard subsidiary is first infrastructure firm fined by Bank of England
The Bank of England has given its first fine to an infrastructure firm in the financial markets through an £11.9 million penalty on Vocalink Ltd, the payment systems architect and operator owned by Mastercard.
Online Published Date:
10 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
FCA and Treasury prepare overhaul to improve shock of mass complaints
Unexpected mass redress schemes are being targeted by a set of proposals from the FCA to understand and respond to the causes earlier, to help firms take action sooner and to improve "operational efficiency" at the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Online Published Date:
15 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Regulators consult to streamline the SMCR
The FCA, PRA and HM Treasury are working on a range of proposals to refine, clarify and make more flexible the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) for the 37,000 firms who have to comply with its rules. While the cost-savings per firm will be fairly small - averaging £117 a year - the changes are likely to be welcomed.
Online Published Date:
15 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Prospectus requirements eased under new rules
The threshold at which a prospectus is needed for further share issuances is to be lifted nearly fourfold when new rules come into force on 19 January.
Online Published Date:
15 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Barclays notches up four fines for financial crime control failings in ten years
The bank has been fined for the third and fourth times in a decade for poor financial crime controls - in breaches that could have been avoided by basic steps such as checking the FCA register.
Online Published Date:
16 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Deferred payment credit to be onboarded for FCA regulation next year
Consumer Duty requirements and other protections will come into force for the BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) sector on 15 July next year when the FCA takes on its regulation.
Online Published Date:
18 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Greater flexibility granted for mortgage affordability assessment rules
By Neasa MacErlean
Online Published Date:
22 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
FCA finds array of Consumer Duty breaches in retail insurance sector
The regulator is about to address problems it has found in the premium finance market by reminding firms of their Consumer Duty to provide value for money - and, according to a statement, "taking action against specific firms where necessary".
Online Published Date:
22 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Tom Hayes wins long battle against LIBOR-rigging conviction
The Supreme Court has unanimously quashed the benchmark-manipulation convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo because instructions to the trial juries meant that their defences could not be considered fairly.
Online Published Date:
23 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Ex H20 exec fined £1m after telling staff to doctor minutes
The former deputy-CEO of asset manager H20 has been banned and fined one million pounds after he instructed at least three more junior employees to alter the minutes of the firm's Risk and Compliance committee and its sub-committee on Valuation.
Online Published Date:
25 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Reinsurer fined after ignoring Internal Audit recommendations
The London branch of Luxembourg company Barents Reinsurance SA has become the first firm operating solely as a reinsurer to be fined by the PRA.
Online Published Date:
28 July 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Sigma fined £1m for system that yielded "close to 100%" flawed reports
Sigma Broking has been penalised over £1 million for running a transaction reporting system that for five years submitted FCA reports which were nearly all inaccurate and incomplete. In total, nearly one million reports were filed in the period to December 2023.
Online Published Date:
01 August 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Firms must revise motor finance provisions as FCA prepares redress scheme
Motor finance firms need to "refresh their estimates" of the amounts they are likely to pay to customers under the redress scheme which will start next year. Administration costs must also be factored into their provisions, according to the regulator, which will launch a six-week consultation in early October.
Online Published Date:
04 August 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Neil Woodford cases, which centre on Compliance team relationships, go to Tribunal
The former fund manager is heading to the Upper Tribunal to challenge a £5.9 million FCA fine and ban for exercising a "defective and unreasonably narrow understanding of his responsibilities" when director and investment manager of Woodford Management Ltd.
Online Published Date:
05 August 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Navigating the crypto sanctions compliance minefield
A threat assessment from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation is a wake-up call concerning the geopolitical use of cryptoassets to bypass traditional financial systems and compliance mechanisms. It is "almost certain" that suspected sanctions breaches are underreported and "highly likely" that UK cryptoasset firms have been exposed to malignant Russian and North Korean entities, reports Fred Saugman.
Online Published Date:
06 August 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025
Lenders gain partial win in motor finance marathon
The legal battle over motor finance commissions has resulted in a partial victory for lenders: in two of three conjoined cases, the Supreme Court ruled that credit brokers owed no fiduciary duties to customers. Yet the Court's finding of an unfair relationship in the other claim may still expose firms to substantial payouts. Adam Samuel examines the judgment and its loose ends.
Online Published Date:
11 August 2025
Appeared in issue:
Vol 38 No 1 - 01 September 2025