FCA right to call for industry to work harder to prevent sanctions breaches, says Click2Check

03 June 2026

UK financial firms froze £37bn of assets in 2025, up from £24.4bn the previous year according to a recent review from the FCA published on Friday, but "gaps remain".

Following proactive assessment of the sanctions systems and controls of over 150 financial services firms, the FCA found "the most common root causes of reported sanctions breaches were weaknesses in due diligence, alert management, transaction and name screening, as well as management of frozen assts and compliance with licences."

David Jones, director at Click2Check commented: “The FCA’s latest findings highlight that, while progress has been made, there is still work to do across the industry to ensure sanctions controls are consistently robust.

“For brokers, this reinforces the importance of carrying out thorough and complete checks at the outset. Many of the issues identified - such as gaps in due diligence, screening and alert management - are areas where stronger, more consistent processes can make a real difference.

“In an increasingly complex sanctions landscape, particularly with a widening range of regimes in focus, relying on manual or fragmented processes can create unnecessary risk. Brokers need confidence that the checks they are conducting are comprehensive, up to date and aligned with regulatory expectations.

“Technology can play an important role in supporting this. By embedding automated identity verification, sanctions screening and ongoing monitoring into onboarding workflows, firms can strengthen compliance while maintaining efficiency.

“At Click2Check, we work with brokers to streamline these checks, helping them build more consistent, reliable processes and demonstrate that they have effective systems and controls in place.”