News

Anti-money laundering supervision update

15 October 2026

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has provided more detail on how it will work with the legal sector when they take on the responsibility for anti-money laundering (AML) supervision.

Speaking at The Law Society's economic crime conference, the FCA's Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, Steve Smart set out the vision for how supervision will work. In particular how regulators, firms and law enforcement will work together to make the system harder for criminals to exploit. This also followed the government's newly published three-year strategy on anti-money laundering and asset recovery.

Mandeep Sandhu, Head of AML Proactive Supervision at the SRA, spoke alongside Steve Smart at the event and they discussed a range of topics, including:

• The importance of information sharing in disrupting criminal activity.
• Trends in suspicious activity reporting, emerging risks, and insider threat or infiltration.
• How technology and AI can support the faster identification of key risks.
• The recently published Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (AMLAR) Strategy 2026-2029.

Strong collaboration across the public and private sectors remains essential to protecting the UK from financial crime and strengthening the collective response to emerging threats. The FCA is expected to begin taking over AML supervision for law firms and other legal service providers in late 2028, with the phased transition expected to be fully completed by 2030.

• Read Steve Smart's full speech and the government's AMLAR strategy. 
• See the FCA's dedicated webpage for information on their approach.
• Stay ahead of everything AML and compliance with SRA events and webinars.