FCA Encourages Sanctions Evasion Whistleblowing
This is an interesting, yet understandable move by the FCA, who are essentially communicating directly with the employees or stakeholders of in-scope firms, to strengthen the effectiveness of sanctions. Over the years, there have been high profile and costly cases involving the evasion of sanctions.
In addition to suspicion or actual cases of sanctions evasion by individuals or firms, the FCA is expecting to hear about weaknesses in sanctions controls that are open to abuse or likely to fail.
The webpage sets out three channels for reporting the evasion of sanctions:
- Employees wishing to report their current or previous employer can contact the FCA confidentially by contacting the FCA’s Whistleblowing team;
- Authorised firms reporting issues at their own firm can follow the processes set out in SUP 15; or
- Firms or individuals with information about suspected or actual sanctions evasion by another in-scope firm can raise their concerns via the form on the webpage.
Firms or individuals that are purposefully evading sanctions are likely to be subject to legal repercussions.
Firms that are concerned about the adequacy of their sanctions controls, can contact us to find out how we can assist them. We have been providing compliance and regulatory services to the UK market for more than 30 years and our team of professionals are experts in financial services compliance.