The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has led an international crackdown in illegal finfluencer promotions in the first year of its five-year strategy.

The regulator said the strategy has led to three arrests and 650 social media takedown requests, as well as a combined 11 years in prison for two cases of insider dealing.

The FCA has focused its efforts on the most serious risks and harms, and it has taken decisive action to protect consumers, fight financial crime and uphold market integrity, delivering an estimated £5.6bn in benefits to consumers, firms and the wider economy.

With investment fraud remaining a major threat, the regulator has issued 2,329 warnings about unauthorised or potentially scam firms in 2025, up from 2,240 in 2024, and pursued serious market abuse through both enforcement and criminal prosecution.

It has also fined firms approximately £14.4m for transaction reporting failures and control weaknesses and issued a £42m fine to Barclays for anti-money laundering failures.

The announcement comes as the regulator stated that its firm checker tool has been used almost two millions times since its introduction in January 2025, allowing consumers to quickly check whether a firm is authorised and avoid dealing with fraudulent firms.

Following a successful advertising campaign at the start of 2026, firm warning messages helped protect an average of consumers each week, an increase of 49% year-on-year.

Chair at the FCA, Ashley Alder, stated: "We have made a strong start to our five-year strategy. We set out to focus our efforts where they matter most – protecting consumers, maintaining market integrity and supporting a competitive economy. The progress we’ve made in the first year demonstrates that a focused and decisive regulator delivers real benefits for consumers and supports growth."

Nikhil Rathi, CEO at the FCA, concluded: "In the past year we've shut down scams, pursued those who abuse markets through the courts, helped hundreds of thousands of consumers access better financial products and cut the cost of regulation for tens of thousands of firms.

"We've made greater use of data and technology to detect harm earlier and expanded our international presence to support UK financial services. There is more to do, but this is a solid foundation."

---