The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has shut down 1,600 websites and 50 finance apps through the use of data and technology, as well as collaboration with big tech firms.
With fintech increasing the availability of financial products and unauthorised financial social media-based advisors increasing in number, in 2022, the FCA turned to technology to help it protect consumers, and it’s now reaping positive results.
In its annual report, the FCA said the websites and apps on Apple Store and Google Pay were identified and shut down during 2024, as part of its tech-led strategy to “block fraud at source”.
The regulator scans hundreds of thousands of websites everyday, using the latest technology to identify those that could cause consumers financial harm.
Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the FCA, said the regulator has “embraced data and technology to crack down on harm and ensure high standards.”
It was in July 2022 when the FCA announced that rather than react to problems after consumers have been affected, technology was improving the regulator’s use of analytics to gain insights and prevent future problems. The websites blocked were suspected of promoting financial services without permission, while the FCA worked with tech giants to identify apps offering unauthorised services.
During 2024, the FCA also discovered 20,000 non-compliant financial products offered by authorised firms, which led to them being amended or withdrawn. It also targeted illegal financial promotions by unauthorised ‘finfluencers’, cancelling the authorisations of over 1,500 firms last year, which was 20% more than in 2023.
Technology is at the core of the FCA’s fight against unauthorised online and app-based financial advice. In a speech at the Peterson Institute of International Economics three years ago, the FCA chief executive said technology was helping the regulator take a more proactive stance, and “spot harm and intervene more quickly and more broadly”.
For example, the FCA moved systems to the cloud as part of a project to put 50,000 finance firms and thousands of users onto a new regulatory data platform.
Rathi said at the time: “Using our data lake, we aim to more swiftly identify, connect and react to firm and market issues,” said Rath. “Our analytics tools are speeding up case management and providing improved visibility of risk in each firm.”
Following the publication of the latest annual report, Rathi said: “We’ve embraced data and technology to crack down on harm and ensure high standards. We’re ambitious for the future, and committed to enabling a fair and thriving financial services market for the good of consumers and the economy.”
FCA chair Ashley Alder added: “Our annual report shows how we’ve laid the strongest possible foundation from which to implement our new strategy. We’ll build on this over the next five years to deepen trust and rebalance risk so we can support growth and improve lives.”
During the past year, the FCA said it has fined two banks over £45m for financial crime failures on sanction controls and screening, and monitoring of money laundering risks.
It said it has issued 2,240 alerts about unauthorised firms and individuals, interviewed 20 unauthorised influencers under caution for illegally promoting financial products and issued 38 alerts against finfluencer social media accounts.