From 25 August 2026, the EU has extended its ban on Russian nationals owning, controlling or holding board positions in crypto firms to cover all crypto-asset services under MiCA. The UK has no equivalent measure yet, leaving firms operating across both jurisdictions to navigate a growing divergence.

FINTRAIL's Advisory team works with Annex 1 firms and their regulated counterparties across the UK, helping them build financial crime frameworks that are tailored to their own risk, governance and operations not inherited from a parent or template.

New research from the Home Office reveals that 20% of people have encountered a money-mule recruitment attempt in the past year, and that previous fraud victims are twice as likely to be targeted. This piece explores why firms need to stop treating customer vulnerability purely as a Consumer Duty issue and start using it as fraud intelligence, rethinking customer risk assessments to protect — not de-risk — the customers most exposed to exploitation.