On July 18th, after completing a multi-firm review, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released its assessment of how well firms are following its current guidance on the treatment of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and their Relatives and Close Associates (RCAs) for anti-money laundering purposes. The following post provides a summary of how well firms have performed.
In this article we will try to unravel the key developments and assess their potential impacts on banks and financial institutions. We believe this is more than a storm in a teacup and firms will need to follow developments closely over the coming months, as well as take a long hard look at their current policies and procedures – and previous debanking decisions. It is important to note that this is not just about account closures: firms need to also take a close look at how on-boarding decisions are made.
