The UK Government has imposed a wide range of sanctions and we’re working closely with the Government and other authorities to make sure financial services firms are adhering to them. We expect regulated firms to have systems and controls to counter the risk that they might be used for financial crime and sanction evasion. It is a criminal offence not to comply with a financial sanction unless you have an appropriate licence or authorisation from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.  

For more detail, see the new section of our website on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which includes a link to the Financial Crime Guide with some examples of good practice for sanctions systems and controls. 

This new section also has information on:

• related news, including consultation on use of side pockets for retail funds 
• the joint statement from the UK financial regulatory authorities on sanctions and the cryptoasset sector 
• information on operational resilience, including cyber resilience  

Firms are advised to remain vigilant. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is not aware of any current specific cyber threats to the UK in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but firms should be alert.

On the operational resilience page, we share the NCSC’s guidance outlining actions firms should consider taking. And we tell you about other important aspects to consider regarding your operational resilience, including reporting operational incidents to us promptly. 

We recognise the benefits that cryptoassets and their underlying technology may offer to financial services and we continue to encourage innovation, and support competition in consumers’ interests. However, cryptoassets also present risks to market integrity and consumers, particularly when used as a speculative investment. They also pose significant risks in relation to financial crime and money laundering and, on 11 March, we issued guidance on how firms should manage these risks in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On 24 March we issued a Notice to all FCA-regulated firms with exposure to cryptoassets, reminding them of their existing obligations when they are interacting with or exposed to cryptoassets and related services. Although much of the cryptoasset sector is unregulated, firms should use a similar risk assessment approach to that for the regulated activities they conduct. 

Since January 2020, firms carrying on cryptoasset activity in the UK have had to comply with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the MLRs). This includes the requirement to be registered with the FCA to continue to carry on business. 

On 11 March we warned operators of crypto ATMs in the UK to shut their machines down or face enforcement action. None of the cryptoasset firms registered with us is approved to offer crypto ATM services, meaning that any of them operating in the UK are doing so illegally and consumers should not be using them. 

Increase to the FOS Award limit increase

We’re launching a new email subscription service that will notify you of all new and updated warnings that we publish on the FCA website.  

Sign up here to receive the new daily alert.

Almost all firms offering financial services in the UK must be authorised and registered by us. Firms we have identified or been told are providing regulated products or services without the correct authorisation are added to our unauthorised firms list. Our email service will alert you when new or updated warnings are published. 

By 31 March 2022, in-scope firms must have identified their important business services, set impact tolerances, and carried out the necessary mapping and testing to enable them to do so. We can now ask you to submit your self-assessment document to us too.   

You have until 31 March 2025 to perform mapping and testing, and make the necessary investments, to enable you to operate consistently within your impact tolerances. 

We encourage firms to act on this now. 

In PS21/5, we confirmed senior managers must attest annually that their firm has complied with our GI Pricing rules. All firms setting home and motor insurance prices, including where authority is delegated, must attest that they comply.  

We sent out a survey in January for the first annual attestation. Firms that received it must respond in full or provide a nil return by 31 March 2022. Future attestations will be via RegData.  

Our website includes an update to our Q&As, including Q4.4 on insurers that delegate the setting of the risk element of the price to another firm, and which firm is responsible for attesting compliance with the rules. 

In addition to the regulatory returns that your firm submits via RegData, you also need to complete these 2 mandatory attestations: 

1. Firm Details Attestation:  If your firm is subject to  SUP 16.10 requirements, complete firm details attestation annually within 60 days from your Accounting Reference Date via Connect portal  

1. Directory Persons’ Attestation: If your firm is subject to SUP 16.26.18-20 requirements, complete Directory Persons’ attestations within 12 months since you last updated or confirmed its accuracy via Connect portal  

See our firm details  and directory persons’ pages for further guidance.

The FCA is looking to appoint one member to the SBPP from each of the following sectors: building societies, life cover/protection, credit unions, consumer credit and financial advice (with ESG expertise).  

Please submit applications by Sunday 1 May 2022.  

This is an opportunity to help shape the FCA’s strategy and policies at a time of significant change in UK financial services regulation.   

For more information, please see our website.  Information about SBPP is at https://www.fca-sbpp.org.uk/. 

See more about how the FCA is taking action to be a leading diverse and inclusive organisation.   

On 25 March, we confirmed changes to PRIIPs regulations to help consumers make better-informed investment choices. 

The regulations take effect from 25 March 2022 and, following feedback from respondents, firms have until 31 December 2022 to implement the changes. We’ve also provided more clarity on how we expect firms to construct narrative descriptions of performance within KIDs. 

For more information read our news item or policy statement. 

On 4 March we published our quarterly consultation paper CP22/4. We proposed to make certain changes in connection with MIFIDPRU TP 7, including extending the deadline and increasing the scope of firms which may submit the notification. 

The deadline to respond to CP22/4 is 11 April 2022. 

Although we will need to consider consultation feedback before we can confirm whether we will or will not extend the deadline, affected firms and parent undertakings may wish to submit TP7 notifications now to ensure that they will meet the new deadline if it is extended. 

On 30 March 2022, the FCA launched a Call for Input exploring the potential for synthetic data to support innovation by expanding the opportunities for data access and data sharing. 

We invite academics, regulated firms, start-ups, RegTechs & FinTechs, technology firms, regulators and other policy-making bodies to provide their views on synthetic data. This includes its ability to support innovation, the requirements to be effective, and the potential limitations and risks.  

Please submit responses by 22 June 2022. 

We strongly encourage Account Servicing Payment Service Providers (ASPSPs) to apply exemption 10A of the Regulatory Technical Standards on Strong Customer Authentication and Secure Communication (SCA-RTS). 

If adopted, customers will not need to reauthenticate when they access their account details through a Third-Party Provider (TPP). Instead, TPPs will need explicit consent from customers at least every 90 days. 

ASPSPs should apply the exemption as soon as possible and we expect TPPs to now be technically ready to reconfirm customer consent.

See our SCA page for more information about the exemption and what you need to do.  

On 1 March 2022 we confirmed new restrictions to prevent excessive fees being charged to consumers owed compensation from financial services firms. We have also enhanced pre-contract disclosure requirements for CMCs. 

If your firm is affected, you must ensure you are complying with our rules. For more information see PS21/18. 

Between 22-24 March 2022, the FCA and the City of London Corporation hosted the final demo days for the Digital Sandbox Sustainability cohort. 

Each team had 10 minutes to showcase solutions that solved challenges relating to ESG data and disclosure, and demonstrate the progress they had made since January. We had around 80 attendees per session, including representatives from national/international regulators, banks, academia, and startups. 

Register for free at https://app.digitalsandboxpilot.co.uk/ to view the demos on each team’s showcase page. Go to ‘Events’ and select ‘Digital Sandbox: 2021 Sustainability Cohort’ to view the showcase pages. 

We’ve published our latest data on our work to tackle harm in the consumer investments market between April to September 2021.

As well as providing greater transparency on our work, the data provides useful insights into specific areas of our Consumer Investments Strategy, particularly higher-risk investments and scams. 

Along with the Bank of England, we have published the 2021 Q4 Mortgage Lending Statistics data for regulated firms carrying out mortgage lending and mortgage administration.  

The data includes: 

• the outstanding value of all residential loans 
• total gross advances by loan-to-value, income multiples and purpose of loan 
• value of new commitments 
• proportion of mortgage loans above Bank Rate 

Our findings show that the outstanding value of new mortgage commitments in 2021 Q4 was 2.0% less than the previous quarter at £77.3 billion.