PIMFA
FINANCIAL CRIME
Financial Crime is broadly any criminal conduct relating to money or financial services, including, for example, fraud, money laundering, the misuse of information (such as insider trading), bribery and corruption, handling the proceeds of crime, financing terrorism, or cybercrime. According to the Office of National Statistics, there were c.4.2 million fraud incidents in England and Wales during the year to March 2025 a 31% rise on the previous year.
The PIMFA Financial Crime Committee facilitates discussion across all significant matters of financial crime, ensuring that member firms are kept fully informed and compliant with legislative and regulatory developments and are provided with the latest intelligence, approaches and tools to combat financial crime effectively.
The guide in collaboration with Avyse offers practical, risk-based examples and recommendations tailored to the specific structures, client profiles, and transaction patterns typically found in the investment and wealth management sector
latest news
FCA Synthetic Data and Anti‑Money Laundering Research Note
The FCA has published a research note based on the findings of the Synthetic Data and Anti‑Money Laundering (AML) project.
The publication notes that well‑designed synthetic data can provide meaningful analytical value whilst highlighting important trade‑offs between realism, privacy and coherence.
The report also emphasises that synthetic data should complement, not replace, live operational data.
The FCA will make the dataset available through the Digital Sandbox as part of the upcoming Synthetic Data AML Solution Sprint.
Applications for the Data Sprint close on 26 April 2026.
Read the FCA’s research note here.
Home Office Fraud Strategy 2026-2029
The Home Office has published its Fraud Strategy 2026-2029, which sets out how the Government will combat fraud against individuals and businesses over the coming years.
The srategy has three pillars:
- Disrupt – disrupting the tools, methods, systems and vulnerabilities exploited by criminals, making it harder for them to commit all forms of fraud (pages 14-31)
- Safeguard – strengthen business resilience so fraud can be detected and repelled before harm (pages 32-41)
- Respond – a coordinated, victim-centred response bringing together reporting, victim support, reimbursement, criminal and civil justice (pages 42-53)
It also outlines a major investment programme for initiatives such as:
- Public-Private Online Crime Centre launch – to share data and collaborate on interventions (from Q2 2026)
- Address vulnerability to criminal exploitation by collaboration with telecommunications, online and financial services sectors (from Q1 2026)
- Sponsoring the Global Fraud Summit (Q1 2026)
- Expanding the Stop! Think Fraud campaign to build individuals’ and businesses’ resilience to fraud (from Q1 2026)
- Increasing data-led proactive policing and providing targeted support to at-risk individuals (from Q1 2026)
- Supporting specialist cyber resilience centres to advise businesses on how to improve their resistance to fraud (from Q1 2026)
- Operating Report Fraud – a new streamlined reporting service for victims of fraud (from Q1 2026)
- Fraud Victims Charter to be introduced – to set out a minimum standard of care to ensure consistent victim support (Q2 2027)
Access the Fraud Strategy here.
Home Office Call for Evidence: Economic Crime Information Sharing
The Home Office has published a call for evidence (CfE) for how data and information is currently shared for detecting, preventing, investigating, or disrupting economic crime.
The focus of the CfE is on identifying legal, operational, and cultural barriers to effective data sharing, as well as opportunities to strengthen the system through reform and aims to support work to build a public-private data strategy (as part of Economic Crime Plan 2 initiatives) and to reform the UK’s information-sharing framework for economic crime.
Responses should be submitted by 18 May 2026. Members with comments or views are asked to contact Alexandra Roberts.
Read the CfE here.
HM Treasury Guidance: Using digital identities with the Money Laundering Regulations
HM Treasury (HMT) has published guidance for regulated sectors regulated under the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) to provide clarity on:
- The definition of a digital identity and gives further detail on how digital identities can be used in line with the MLRs’ risk-based approach
- How MLR requirements interact with the UK digital verification services trust framework and the associated governance structure underpinned by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025
Access the guidance here.