The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has set out an ambitious agenda for 2026/27, with card fees, APP fraud and wider payments reform at the centre of its annual plan. Published on 26 March 2026, the programme signals a regulator intent on pushing ahead where competition remains weak, while maintaining strong consumer protections and supporting the next phase of innovation in UK payments. A major priority is card fees, where the PSR plans to press on with action over both cros

In November 2023, the United States imposed a record $4.3 billion settlement on Binance. It was the largest penalty ever levied against a cryptocurrency exchange. The message was unambiguous: anti-money laundering (AML) controls were non-negotiable, and financial crime carried consequences. Yet less than two years later, President Trump pardoned the company’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, who had pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering on the world’s largest crypto platform. T

On 26 January 2026, the Home Secretary published a policing reform white paper that proposed the most significant restructuring of UK law enforcement in nearly two centuries. At its centre was the creation of a National Police Service (NPS), a single national force that would absorb the National Crime Agency (NCA), Counter Terrorism Policing and Regional Organised Crime Units into one organisation. The white paper, titled From Local to National: A New Model for Policing, desc

On 22 January 2026, the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee published a stark verdict on the state of artificial intelligence in UK financial services. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Bank of England and HM Treasury, the Committee concluded, are not doing enough to manage the risks presented by AI. By adopting a wait-and-see approach, the authorities are exposing consumers and the financial system to potentially serious harm. The Committee’s Chair, Dame Meg

Artificial intelligence has become the new backbone of financial crime compliance. Institutions that once relied on human analysts now lean heavily on machine learning to detect anomalies, flag high-risk clients, and predict suspicious behaviour before it happens. Yet behind the promise of speed and precision lies a growing ethical dilemma. The same systems that claim to reduce bias and human error can just as easily reproduce them, only faster and with greater opacity. The q

The Financial Conduct Authority has imposed a £44 million fine on Nationwide Building Society for significant failures in its financial crime systems and controls, reinforcing the regulator’s uncompromising stance on anti-money laundering governance across the UK banking sector. The penalty relates to weaknesses that persisted between October 2016 and July 2021, during which Nationwide was unable to effectively identify, assess, monitor, or manage money laundering risks withi

AI-generated fable remix: the tortoise plays it safe, the robot hare bolts ahead, but who is the ultimate winner? Generative AI, once a...

Fraud is no longer the work of lone actors exploiting isolated weaknesses. In today’s digital economy, financial crime has evolved into a...

We are living through a profound transformation in the architecture of risk. The convergence of deepfake technologies, generative...

A Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) survey has found that two-thirds of corporate finance firms not currently required to submit financial crime returns may be falling short of their obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations, raising concerns about weak oversight and inconsistent compliance practices. Corporate finance firms play a critical role in supporting the growth and success of the UK economy by helping businesses secure investment and lending. However, the FC

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published a comprehensive report calling on supervisors across the EU to draw lessons from...

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly reshaping the architecture of financial crime compliance. Once a heavily manual, document-intensive...