Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

FCA fraud prosecutions: Fraud Act 2006, Theft Act 1968 and conspiracy to defraud; prosecutorial powers, ECCTA failure to prevent fraud, DPAs, asset freezing and confiscation, prohibition (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Financial Services expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note sets out a summary of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) criminal powers to bring fraud prosecutions under the Fraud Act 2006 (FrA 2006), the Theft Act 1968 (TA 1968), common law conspiracy to defraud and, from 1 September 2025, the corporate offence of failure to prevent fraud. It also outlines key fraud offences and records FCA fraud prosecutions. In addition, this Practice Note reviews the FCA’s ability to bar persons convicted of fraud from participating in financial services by deploying formal enforcement powers under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA 2000). It further signposts practical, in‑depth guidance...

Overview

A core function of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is acting as a private prosecutor, notably for fraud offences, including the general fraud offence in FrA 2006, s 1. Fraud counts are frequently advanced alongside other charges; for example, in ‘Operation Tidworth’ the FCA charged defendants with conspiracy to defraud, fraud by misrepresentation, money laundering, perverting the course of justice, and issuing invitations to engage in investment activity contrary to section 21 of the FSMA 2000. In tandem with a prosecution, the...

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Jamas Hodivala , KC

Matrix Chambers

Jamas' has advised and represented a large number of corporates, based in both the UK and US, which are under investigation by the police, HMRC, Serious Fraud Office, Health & Safety Executive and the Environment Agency. He is often instructed at an early stage of an investigation to advise on the legality of investigatory powers, for example, he acted for the claimant in R (KBR, Inc.) v SFO relating to a US corporate's challenge to the extraterritoriality of a s.2 Notice issued by the SFO, R (Panesar and others) v HMRC on the jurisdiction for a prosecutor to use s.59 proceedings to apply to retain unlawfully seized material and acted for a FTSE-listed UK company to prevent a regulator's retention of LPP material taken by a whistle-blower. He is currently acting for large corporate charged with fraud post-Ivey and also acted for one of the...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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