New rules 1 September
- The FCA’s non-financial misconduct rules go live on 1 September, requiring all FCA regulated firms to take strong action on bullying and harassment.
- For the HE/FE sector, the Office for Students free speech complaints scheme goes live 1 September.
UK regulatory update
While the FCA is preparing for the non-financial misconduct rules coming into force on 1 September, other types of misconduct can still produce significant regulatory action as the FCA banned two senior managers.
Premier League clubs face new cyber security duties, with requirements to implement annual compliance assessments to keep their clubs safe.
A failure to provide health and safety training led to a serious accident, and a serious fine for a Cornwall sawmill.
Data protection mistakes by the Met Police saw a stalker receive the victim’s new address in a shocking lapse and a failure of basic training.
With more firms being fined for sanctions mistakes, what does good sanctions due diligence look like in the real world?
Sanctions and money laundering can have a significant crossover, even for non-regulated firms like the multi-million pound ENEX forfeiture which was full of red flags.
Meanwhile a new VinciWorks poll found that 9 in 10 compliance professionals lack confidence in spotting a sanctioned individual hiding behind a shell company.
Following the popular VinciWorks webinar on sanctions compliance, we’ve put together the key questions and answers that compliance teams should know.
Modern slavery rules are set for an overhaul with fines of up to 1%. Compliance questions from our recent webinar answered here.
Employment tribunal risks are also rising thanks to the Employment Rights Act. We answer questions from businesses about how to reduce the risk of a workplace dispute turning into an expensive employment tribunal.
EU regulatory update
The EU has switched on its AI Act enforcement. Transparency obligations that require organisations to tell users when they are interacting with AI and to label AI-generated content.
The Dutch privacy regulator has fined Uber €825m for failures in automated decision making that saw drivers locked out of their accounts.
US regulatory update
In a significant move, the US has ended beneficial ownership reporting for domestic companies, while the Corporate Transparency Act remains technically in place, FinCEN exempted all entities created in the US.
FinCEN has fined bank UBS $125m in the largest ever penalty for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act as hundreds of suspicious transactions were not reported and thousands of high risk customers not monitored.
A US agriculture company has been fined $10m for paying bribes to Mexican officials to move trainloads of goods across the US-Mexico border.
A Minnesota money mule was indicted by the DoJ. He laundered money for a drug cartel, keeping payments just below $1,000 to avoid detection.
The legal market
The Court of Appeal has delivered a significant POCA ruling around the tipping off offence, with an MLRO losing his appeal against his conviction and suspended sentence.
The SRA has flagged new money laundering risks for law firms. Its new sectoral risk assessment from 6 August highlights the risk of cash-intensive businesses and passporting due diligence.
The SRA has issued a new warning to law firms about the use of AI, as it received 42 complaints about the misuse of AI in the last year.
A huge revelation about the AML risks hidden in the High Street. Over 3,000 short-lived UK businesses showed signs of money laundering, with repeating patterns firms should be aware of.
Around the world
New sanctions rules from around the world including New Zealand, Canada and the US reveal a fragmented compliance picture for firms with high sanctions risk.
New guides
- The Crime and Policing Act: A guide to compliance
- Learning Plan Builder
- The Employment Rights Act 2025 and compliance: What employers need to know
- Sanctions enforcement in action: Recent cases, enforcement trends and practical lessons
- Modern slavery and the Immigration and Asylum Bill
Where can I find more?
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