Aug 2, 2016
In line with its declared priority to tackle financial crime, the Financial Conduct Authority will be requiring financial firms to produce an annual financial crime report from early next year so the regulator can better assess the nature of financial crime risk in the U.K. banking system.
Firms that already have robust systems and controls to comply with anti-money laundering rules are likely to have the information needed to meet the new requirement at hand, and may already be even reporting it, said Mark Spiers, principal and head of banking, investments and lending at Bovill, a financial services regulatory consultancy firm, in London. The report, to be filed using the regulator’s existing electronic platform, consists of 35 questions designed to compile data on potential risk areas of financial crime. For instance, it asks firms to provide the total number of relationships with politically exposed persons, non-EEA correspondent banks and other high-risk customers, as well the number of suspicious activity reports detected, and those reported to authorities.