The FCA’s latest thematic review highlights major shortcomings in how UK firms assess financial-crime risk. Many Business-Wide Risk Assessments (BWRA) and Customer Risk Assessments (CRA) are still too generic, poorly evidenced, or disconnected from real-world controls. Key gaps identified include:  • Risk assessments not tailored to the firm’s actual products, customers or exposure.  • Weak links between BWRA findings and monitoring/testing.  • Senior management focusing heav

FCA Warns: Weak Risk Frameworks Won’t Cut It — Time for Smarter Oversight and AI-Driven Insight The FCA’s latest multi-firm review has highlighted major weaknesses in how regulated firms assess and manage risk. The regulator found that many firms: Still use underdeveloped risk frameworks that don’t reflect their size or complexity Fail to stress-test liquidity risks or model realistic scenarios Overlook group-level interdependencies, missing how parent companies or affiliates