On 28 January 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its first enforcement newsletter – Enforcement Watch 1 – which aims to cover the FCA’s insights and themes from its enforcement work as part of the FCA’s move towards greater transparency in this area.

The newsletter provides an update on the following three topics: (i) its updated investigation publicity policy in action (so called ‘naming and shaming’); (ii) enforcement case priorities; and (iii) international partnerships.

Points of interest for firms from the newsletter are as follows:

Investigation statistics and publicity

  • Number of enforcement operations: Between June and December 2025, the FCA opened 23 enforcement operations, including 12 into authorised firms and six into individuals only.
  • Three listed companies named as being under investigation: The FCA has confirmed three investigations into listed issuers following an announcement by the company. This information was already available as the announcements have been published and included on the FCA’s ‘News’ webpage (investigation announcements can be identified by selecting the filter “Enforcement investigations” – see here).
  • One authorised firm named as being under investigation: The publication confirms information already available regarding one authorised firm under investigation – The Claims Protection Agency Limited (TCPA), where the FCA decided that its investigation met the ‘exceptional circumstances’ test. The FCA states that one of the key reasons for announcing was consumer protection – it wanted TCPA’s customers to be aware of its concerns so that they could properly consider their next steps. TCPA had challenged the FCA’s decision to announce through judicial review, but the High Court dismissed the claim and the Court of Appeal refused permission to appeal (the High Court’s judgment was released in two parts – see here from October 2025 and here from January 2026).
  • Two investigations announced anonymously: The FCA has confirmed investigations into two insurers in the home and travel markets, without naming them. These announcements are not on the “Enforcement investigations” filter mentioned above but they are mentioned in the FCA response to the Which? super-complaint on addressing poor consumer outcomes in home and travel insurance from December 2025.

Enforcement case priorities

  • In terms of current enforcement priorities, the FCA lists seven key areas: (i) individual responsibility; (ii) listed issuers; (iii) unauthorised business; (iv) fair value; (v) inadequate oversight; (vi) adequacy of controls; and (v) consumer investment and asset management.
  • Whilst none of these areas is a surprise, there are some interesting points from the detail provided under these headings:
    • Consumer Duty breaches: The FCA is investigating six potential Consumer Duty breaches by firms, particularly in relation to fair value for customers, showing its clear focus in this area. Two of its Consumer Duty investigations concern insurance firms and they were the most serious cases identified in its multi-firm work.
    • Consumer investment and asset management: The FCA is investigating five firms in the consumer investment and asset management sectors, looking into suspicions of: (i) misleading consumers and third parties with false statements; and (ii) failing to recognise conflicts of interest.
    • Cryptoasset sector: The FCA’s work regarding suspected unauthorised business has a particular focus on the cryptoasset sector and entities providing cryptoasset services while not registered under the Money Laundering Regulations.
    • Financial crime: The FCA’s work regarding adequacy of controls is focused on financial crime and it states that it will act where it suspects inadequate controls are enabling crime to occur. We have seen recent enforcement in this area (for example, see our Nationwide Notice in a Nutshell) and expect this to continue to be an enforcement focus.

You can sign up to future editions of the FCA’s Enforcement Watch by entering your details here. For further information regarding regulatory enforcement, please see our Notices in a Nutshell series, which analyses key enforcement decisions from the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority for lessons learnt for firms and senior individuals.