Bribery, fraud and anti-money-laundering | UK Regulatory Outlook February 2025

US executive order pauses Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement 

The US president, Donald Trump, signed an executive order on 10 February directing the Department of Justice to pause all enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for 180 days. This may be extended by the US attorney general for an additional 180 days as appropriate). The pause will be pending of new enforcement guidelines and policies addressing future FCPA enforcement are published. 

This is only a temporary pause on initiating new investigations – and the attorney general has the power to make individual exceptions during this period. Although past and existing FCPA enforcement actions are to be reviewed in light of the executive order, the order makes provision for them to be continued after the 180-day pause, if it is in accordance with the new guidelines. 

While the FCPA pause introduces uncertainty, no other regime so far has followed suit in pausing bribery enforcement actions. For example, the UK Bribery Act has extraterritorial application and the increased number of investigations into corporate crime by the Serious Fraud Office under the leadership of Nick Ephgrave indicates continued enforcement risk for businesses. 

If you would like to discuss the issues raised, please get in touch with your usual Osborne Clarke contact or reach out to one of our experts below. 

See the accompanying fact sheet. 

FCA publishes guidance on money laundering through the markets 

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its report on money laundering through the markets (MLTM), which provides an updated review on the compliance of regulated firms with anti-money laundering obligations in the capital markets sector.  

The FCA stated that "good progress" has been made since it conducted its earlier thematic review in 2019. However, it also identified areas where firms needed to improve to protect participants and transactions against financial crime, including transaction monitoring and information sharing under the recently enacted Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. 

Firms should continue to review their systems, controls, MLTM awareness and training with a view to the report's findings. In particular, firms and third-party providers are encouraged to innovate and tailor transaction monitoring controls and alerts to capital markets. 

However, although focused on capital markets, the report is a helpful guide to other firms in the financial services sector: the FCA has provided more detail in its guidance than in other similar reports, particularly around transaction monitoring, which appears to be a key area of current focus for the regulator. 

Read the report and see our Insight for further information on the key takeaways from the MLTM report.

Lords report on FCA's proposals on early announcement of enforcement investigations 

The cross-party House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee published its "Naming and shaming how not to regulate" report on the FCA's consultation paper CP24/2 regarding the proposals on the early announcement of enforcement investigations. 

The committee states that it remains "deeply concerned" over the FCA's revised proposals, highlighting in particular the initial failures in communication and lack of engagement with the industry. It was "unconvinced" that the proposed new public interest framework would allow for proportionate and consistent decisions to be made over whether to announce an enforcement investigation early and that the serious inherent risk of reputational damage for senior managers had not been addressed. 

In response to feedback, the FCA published a second consultation containing changes to the initial proposals (see our previous Regulatory Outlook) in November 2024. The deadline for responding to the consultation was 17 February. We will continue to monitor developments in this area. Read the full report and our response to the proposals. 

Foreign Office to extend funding to National Crime Agency's International Corruption Unit 

The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, has announced that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will extend its funding support to the National Crime Agency's (NCA) International Corruption Unit (ICU) by up to £36 million over five years. 

The funding will help boost the ICU's aid-funded enforcement efforts, including conducting further international investigations into cross-border corruption, money laundering and bribery. 

Separately, the security minister, Dan Jarvis, announced in December 2024 that the Home Office and the City of London Police had established the new Domestic Corruption Unit to lead proactive investigations and bring together national agencies, local forces and policing forces to tackle economic crime.  

The pilot unit will form part of an anti-corruption strategy that the government has pledged to publish in 2025. For further insights on financial crime, watch our Future of Financial Service Week webinar recording.