Bribery, fraud and anti-money laundering | UK Regulatory Outlook October 2025

Government issues consultation response to reform of AML/CTF supervision regime 

The government has published its response to the 2023 consultation on improving the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) supervision regime (read more in our Insight). 

The consultation response, which summarises the 95 responses received, sets out the government's decision to consolidate responsibility for AML/CTF supervision of legal, accountancy and trust and company service providers. Supervision of these professional services sectors will be undertaken by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), with the aim of strengthening the UK's defences against economic crime and simplify a complex regulatory system.  

The implementation of the reform is still subject to the passage of legislation. As such, the government states that the date at which the FCA will begin supervising the professional services sector will be "heavily dependent" on the availability of parliamentary time. 

The government intends to publish a separate consultation on the powers that the supervisor should have in early November 2025. 

See also the Law Society website and the FCA's statement.  

Guidance published on information sharing measures under ECCTA 2023 

The UK government has published updated guidance on the information sharing measures in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA). 

The guidance supports AML regulated firms within the scope of schedule 9 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to utilise the new voluntary information sharing provisions.  

The measures aim to provide greater clarity to firms when sharing customer information, either directly or through third parties, for preventing, detecting or investigating economic crime.  

FCA outlines next steps to stop financial crime  

The FCA 's joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, Steve Smart, delivered a speech at the 1LOD Financial Crime Summit highlighting the regulator's enforcement achievements from the previous financial year, including the publication of 37 final notices and imposition of fines of over £186 million.  

In the last six months alone, the FCA has issued two sizeable fines totalling £63 million where the firms' AML systems and controls were found to be inadequate. 

Looking forward, the FCA outlined plans to detect and combat financial crime through a range of measures. These include a synthetic data project, in which "realistic, privacy-safe" data will be used to help firms build and test AML systems, as well as strengthened coordination with global law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and the Department of Justice to improve the speed and efficiency of international investigations. 

EBA reports on authorities' approach to AML and CTF banking supervision 

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published a report summarising the findings of actions taken by competent authorities in tacking money laundering and terrorist financing risks in banks across the EU and European Economic Area member states over the last six years.  

The report follows multi-year reviews conducted by the EBA of all 40 competent authorities on their progress in addressing earlier findings and recommendations for improvement. 

Areas identified for enhanced supervision include ensuring that supervisory manuals, strategies and supervisory planning are sufficiently clear on how money laundering and terrorist financing risks are addressed across sectors and how to ensure sufficient coverage across each sector. With regard to domestic cooperation, areas include strengthening coordination and information sharing between supervisors, financial intelligence units and tax authorities.