This post has been previously published by London Loves Business

Retail banks have been issued a warning by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) about continuing weaknesses and failings surrounding their financial crime controls.

The letter, which was penned by David Geale, the Director of Retail Banking & Payments Supervision for the FCA, and sent to banking industry chiefs across the UK, was issued in May and made public via the FCA’s website hub on 29th June.

It outlined the key issues and weaknesses surrounding retail banks’ financial crime controls and requested that each firm complete a gap analysis of each of the identified weaknesses and take prompt and reasonable steps to resolve them by 17th September 2021.

The letter warned that the regulator is likely to request a demonstration of the steps taken after this date and, if deemed inadequate, the FCA may consider appropriate regulatory action in order to manage the financial crime risk posed.

The common control weaknesses identified and cited were in the following areas: Governance and Oversight; Risk Assessments; Due Diligence; Transaction Monitoring and Suspicious Activity Reporting (SARS).

It was highlighted that, in several cases, persistent failings have resulted in intervention, such as requiring firms to appoint a skilled person to carry out a detailed review, business restrictions and, in the most severe cases, enforcement action.

If you want to know more, you can access the original post.