The Financial Conduct Authority has published a multi-firm review of financial-crime systems across large insurers. It concludes the controls are mostly effective but are not always proved to work in practice at business-unit level.
What happened
The FCA released the review on 23 June 2026. It examined the design of systems and controls for anti-money-laundering, sanctions, fraud and anti-bribery across a selection of large firms. The frameworks are generally in place, but risk assessments and governance are often underdeveloped or not evidenced at the business-unit level. Third-party oversight was another weak spot. In retail insurance the FCA rated overall effectiveness as moderate.
What this means for you
Consumers rarely see these controls, yet weak financial-crime systems let fraud through and can slow legitimate claims and payouts. The FCA is pushing firms from stated principle to demonstrated proof, with clear ownership under the Senior Managers regime. Our guide to the FCA and PRA and the Regulation hub set the context.
Sources
- FCA, multi-firm review: insurance financial crime controls (23 June 2026).
- UKGI Compliance and TLT summaries of the FCA financial-crime review (June 2026).