FCA closes 1,600 websites as it fights financial crime

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its annual report, detailing a year of unprecedented action using data and technology to tackle financial harm and raise standards across UK financial services. The regulator’s interventions during 2024 demonstrate a proactive approach to protecting consumers, enhancing market integrity and promoting fair competition.

In its fight against financial crime, the FCA suspended, removed or blocked over 1,600 websites suspected of promoting financial services without authorisation. The regulator also worked closely with major tech platforms, leading to the removal of more than 50 apps from Google Play and the App Store, significantly disrupting fraud at source.

Harnessing data and technology has enabled the FCA to identify non-compliant firms earlier and at scale. In 2024 alone, nearly 20,000 misleading or non-compliant financial promotions were amended or withdrawn by authorised firms, a dramatic increase from fewer than 600 in 2021. The FCA took decisive action to protect social media users, including targeting unauthorised ‘finfluencers’, resulting in the cancellation of over 1,500 firm authorisations, 20 percent more than in 2023 and more than triple the figure in 2021.

The annual report marks the final year of the FCA’s 2022-2025 strategy and showcases key improvements for consumers, firms and markets.

Ashley Alder, Chair of the FCA, commented:

Our annual report shows how we have laid the strongest possible foundation from which to implement our new strategy. We will build on this over the next five years to deepen trust and rebalance risk so we can support growth and improve lives.

Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the FCA, added:

We have embraced data and technology to crack down on harm and ensure high standards. I am proud of our achievements over the course of our last strategy: the biggest changes to listing rules in more than 30 years, making it easier for companies to raise capital, ensuring good outcomes under the Consumer Duty, and cutting authorisation times for firms that meet standards. We are ambitious for the future, and committed to enabling a fair and thriving financial services market for the good of consumers and the economy.

Over the past year, the FCA has delivered significant results, including:

• Reducing and preventing serious harm:The FCA fined two banks over £45.5 million for failures in sanctions controls and money laundering risk monitoring. It issued 2,240 warnings about unauthorised firms and individuals, and actively targeted unauthorised financial influencers, interviewing 20 under caution and issuing 38 social media alerts.

  
  

• Setting and testing higher standards:The FCA drove improvements for consumers through the Consumer Duty, including action on Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance that has saved consumers £70 million. It implemented rules on access to cash, improving services for 200 communities, and introduced the anti-greenwashing rule to protect against misleading sustainability claims, prompting firms to revise their marketing materials.

  
  

• Promoting competition and positive change:The FCA strengthened the UK’s position in global wholesale markets with the most significant reforms to the listing regime in over three decades, launched a new private stock market, and reformed the prospectus regime. It also oversaw the successful transition away from LIBOR, with all 35 LIBOR settings permanently ceased, enhancing market safety and stability.

  
  

• Delivering efficient and effective authorisations:The FCA improved authorisation turnaround times, with over 99 percent of applications determined within statutory deadlines in Q4 2024/25.

This record of achievement underscores the FCA’s commitment to protecting consumers, enhancing trust, and supporting a competitive financial sector that contributes to economic growth.

Read the press release here.