The UK government has outlined a three-year strategy to strengthen its approach to money laundering, placing greater emphasis on intelligence-led supervision, data sharing and measurable outcomes across the financial crime system.
Published by the Home Office on 15 September 2026, the Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy 2026–2029 sets out how government, law enforcement, supervisors and private-sector firms will work to identify financial crime risks, disrupt criminal networks and recover illicit assets. Analysis from Zigram suggests the strategy could also accelerate the shift towards more data-driven and technology-enabled AML operations for financial institutions.
The strategy is built around three priorities: “Target”, which aims to focus resources on the most harmful threats; “Integrate”, which seeks to connect financial intelligence and data across public, private and international partners; and “Empower”, which focuses on the technology, skills and operational capabilities needed to tackle money laundering.
For financial institutions and other regulated businesses, the strategy points towards a greater focus on whether AML controls are delivering effective outcomes rather than simply demonstrating compliance with individual requirements.
The government highlights high volumes of low-value activity, including excessive alerts, repetitive investigations and unnecessary escalations, as a burden on the wider AML system. The strategy calls for firms and supervisors to improve how they distinguish between different levels of risk rather than reducing controls.
Supervision is also set for a significant overhaul. The UK’s AML and counter-terrorist financing regime currently covers more than 90,000 businesses, while the government has committed to reducing the number of AML supervisors from 25 to three. The FCA is expected to take responsibility for legal, accountancy, trust and company service providers.
Future supervision is intended to be more intelligence-led and focused on outcomes, increasing the importance for firms of demonstrating that their controls are aligned with their specific exposure to financial crime risks.
The strategy also proposes a review of the UK’s Suspicious Activity Report framework. The UK Financial Intelligence Unit received 866,616 SARs during 2024–25, with the government set to examine whether the suspicion threshold under the Proceeds of Crime Act should be increased. The review does not immediately change existing reporting requirements.
A key structural proposal is the creation of a National Financial Intelligence Service, bringing together the UKFIU, National Crime Agency, Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce, Data Fusion, law enforcement and private-sector partners.
The government plans to use AI within the Data Fusion environment and develop APIs to improve intelligence sharing. For banks and other regulated firms, this is likely to increase the importance of connected data for areas such as entity resolution, beneficial ownership, screening and network analysis.
AI and Digital ID are also identified as technologies that could support more efficient compliance. The strategy notes that explainability, validation and human oversight remain important as these technologies are deployed.
Cryptoassets feature prominently in the strategy, with measures covering areas including stablecoins, privacy-enhancing technologies and the seizure of cryptoassets. Crypto firms will need to comply with relevant AML requirements from 1 February 2027, while the FCA expects new cryptoasset regulated activities to enter its regulatory perimeter from 25 October 2027.
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Copyright © 2026 RegTech Analyst
