City & Financial Global’s last FCA Investigations and Enforcement Summit took place in February 2020. To say that a lot has happened since then would be an understatement. Although there were rumours of a strange virus invading Europe, no-one could have predicted the catastrophic effect it would have.

This year’s Summit, taking place on 18th May, will therefore be very different. The Financial Conduct Authority has had to adapt its enforcement agenda to deal with the unforeseen consequences of the pandemic. Chief amongst these is the challenge of monitoring conduct and behaviour where many market participants are working remotely. Ensuring effective supervision to prevent market abuse, money laundering and sanctions breaches will be imperative.

The FCA has been vocal in its expectation of firms despite the pandemic. They have warned firms to be aware of the risks posed by the COVID-19 crisis which would allow criminals to exploit potential weaknesses in the Customer Due Diligence process. They have also reiterated the importance of maintaining effective recording obligations for telephone and email communications. Firms’ obligations to treat customers fairly will also come under scrutiny in a very challenging environment.

Failure to comply will be met with the same penalties as it would in the pre-pandemic world. Ongoing compliance obligations, in particular in relation to operational resilience, SMCR and the emerging threat of cryptocurrencies could all give rise to enforcement action.

This Summit will provide much needed guidance and clarity on how you can reduce the likelihood of facing regulatory action and mitigate the impact of it on your organisation and senior managers.

Key areas to be covered include:

• The FCA’s enforcement priorities for 2021 and beyond
• The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on firms’ obligations to ensure appropriate systems and controls are maintained
• Conducting internal investigations: what are the risks to the organisation and the individual?
• Handling the investigation process: understanding the FCA’s remit, scope of investigation and powers
• Dealing with international and cross-border regulatory investigations
• Managing specific exposure to enforcement action in relation to money-laundering, SMCR, cyber-security and operational resilience