FCA Investigations
Act quickly to safeguard your business and reputation from the impacts of an investigation with clear, effective advice.
Our role is to help protect your organisation from the disruption and potential negative repercussions a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigation can bring. We recommend approaching us as early as possible, for example while the matter remains with the FCA’s supervision team. That way, we can begin to support you swiftly and confidentially, using the benefits of legal privilege.
The FCA investigates and prosecutes through regulatory and criminal pathways. Our teams have specialist expertise in criminal, civil and regulatory law. We can help you to assess the allegations made, report internally on strategy and liaise with the FCA (and other regulators where necessary), efficiently and discretely to bring matters to a successful conclusion as promptly as possible.
FCA investigations often extend into complex issues, with wider GDPR, employment and criminal implications — we have the expertise to guide you through.
We can help you to conduct an internal investigation into any potential wrongdoing and respond to FCA requests for information. We’re used to dealing with s.166 Skilled Person Reviews, so we understand exactly what investigators are looking for and what you need to disclose.
Our data and information management experts can support your data protection officers on investigation disclosure. If you’re under suspicion of a criminal offence, our business crime specialists can advise on how to protect and defend yourself in a prosecution.
Expertise
- Breaches of FCA principles and rules
- Economic & financial crime
- Fraud
- Money laundering
- Bribery & corruption
- Assistance with s.166 skilled person reviews
Meet the team
The team is supported by our wider Investigations team, encompassing Business Crime and Employment investigations. Our lawyers are specialists in their fields, providing commercially driven, clear advice that helps you stay compliant and confident you’re doing the right thing.
Insights
Expectations around new Consumer Duty reforms
The Consumer Duty came into force on 31st July 2023 and is centred around the new principle, which is Principle 12. A new Duty for ‘firms to deliver good outcomes for retail customers’.
It’s an important milestone for the FCA – for their business and statutory plan. The Principle is made up of three cross-cutting rules and these are the anchor to the Principle. Firms have to apply those three cross-cutting rules to four different outcomes.
Sarah Drew & Rachel Hillier consider the newly implemented Consumer Duty and what they think you can expect to see from the FCA over the next 12-24 months. They cover the background to Consumer Duty and some expectations for firms now that it is in force.
