Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, spoke at the FCA Investigations & Enforcement Summit on the rise in scams and the threat to a legitimate financial services industry. Highlights include:
- the FCA has a substantial role to play in preventing harm to consumers from unauthorised activities and it has made improvements to address scams as they are happening;
- whilst the FCA does have statutory power over the use of false or misleading statements in relation to securities, those offences will not bite where the investment product is outside the financial promotions perimeter;
- firms should be doing more to prevent harm and regulated firms who let down their guard, especially in assisting firms on the FCA’s Warning List, may well face action from the FCA for doing so; and
- the FCA continues to engage with online platforms to ensure harm is prevented.