Things are evolving in the United Kingdom regarding AML CFT (Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism).

A recent joint publication by the NCA and FCA highlights new national priorities, a must-read for compliance professionals.

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The UK’s NCA & FCA Just Set 9 Clear Priorities for Fighting Financial Crime. What It Means for Compliance

In a major step forward for public–private collaboration, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have jointly published their top 9 Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) priorities, offering much-needed guidance for firms grappling with rising risks and regulatory complexity.

🔍 Why does this matter?

The priorities reflect a shift toward intelligence-led, risk-based enforcement — and provide regulated entities with clarity on where to “dial up” or “dial down” their efforts, in line with the UK’s Economic Crime Plan and National Risk Assessment.

🔗 9 New AML CFT Priorities from the UK’s NCA & FCA :

  1. Professional Enablers
    Cracking down on lawyers, accountants, and company service providers facilitating money laundering or sanctions evasion.
  2. PEPs and Foreign Influence
    Monitoring opaque structures and transaction flows linked to foreign politically exposed persons.
  3. Crypto-assets
    Strengthening resilience against the misuse of crypto for fraud, ransomware, or terrorist financing.
  4. Criminal Cash Consolidation
    Targeting large-scale integration of criminal funds into the UK banking system.
  5. Priority Jurisdictions
    Focusing on money laundering risks associated with UK-linked corporate structures from Albania, China, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
  6. Fraud (International)
    Combatting scams against UK citizens — with over 70% of fraudulent activity traced back to, or enabled from, high-risk fraud centres such as Ghana, Nigeria, India, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
  7. Money Mule Networks
    Disrupting the recruitment and use of individuals to launder proceeds of crime.
  8. Telecoms & Online Platforms
    Addressing fraud enabled through phone networks, fake investment platforms, and social media influencers.
  9. Terrorist Financing
    Reinforcing capabilities to prevent the funding of attacks or extremist networks.

How Jurisdictional Risk Impacts AML CFT Efforts

🌍 Why This Geographic Focus Matters

Jurisdictional risk is more than just a regulatory checkbox — it reflects geopolitical realities and complex criminal ecosystems. These country-specific insights are essential for compliance teams to revisit customer due diligence, UBO tracing, and geographic risk scoring models.

📌 What’s Next for Compliance Professionals?

This is a clear invitation for financial institutions, fintechs, and crypto platforms to recalibrate their AML/CTF frameworks around these nine areas — especially in terms of transaction monitoring, onboarding, and cross-border exposure.

💡 More than ever, success in financial crime prevention requires:
– Strategic prioritisation
– Sector-wide intelligence sharing
– Risk-based technology adoption
– Continuous jurisdictional screening

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1stKYC: Built for Modern AML CFT Compliance

At 1stKYC, none of this is new to us. We have been insisting on the consistent application of the Fourth European Directive (2015/849) for years.
Our cloud application automatically incorporates many of the above-mentioned recommendations, such as country risk levels and the specific risks inherent in certain activities. Our screening of legal and natural persons is carried out on a DAILY basis !
Sharing and exchanging experiences is in our DNA. We are always happy to hear from you.