The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the conduct regulator for 58000 financial services firms and financial markets in the UK, has sent 4,430 of its employees on compulsory cyber and information security courses over the past two financial years – (FY 19-20 and FY 20-21).
The goal is to help combat the growing threat of financial crime, such as money laundering and fraud, according to official figures.
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This data was obtained via The Parliament Street think tank under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
The FCA revealed that as well as the ‘Cyber and Information Security’ eLearning course, which is compulsory for all staffers to complete, 217 participants were also enrolled into locally organised security courses for more advanced training.
The additional training courses included Cyber Security training with a Counter Threat Unit; Software and Cyber Security development programmes; and additional courses titled ‘The Cyber Security Degree: the Next Step in Cyber’, and ‘The First Byte’.
“Investing in the latest cyber skills training is essential”
It is unclear how many of the total attendees for the locally organised training courses had attended multiple sessions, or what the programmes specifically involved.
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By GlobalDataRegulation expert Wayne Johnson, CEO of Encompass Corporation, said:
“Investing in the latest cyber skills training is essential, especially for an organisation tasked with investigating financial crime, money laundering and upholding regulatory standards.”
“With a surge in newly launched fintechs, alongside expanding traditional banks, the FCA has a complex remit that requires the highest technical skills in order to investigate and enforce.
“This data also shows the huge investment regulatory authorities are putting in place to hold organisations to account.
Understanding and adhering to evolving financial regulations
“For banks, financial services firms, and start-up fintech companies, a failure to follow strict AML and KYC rules could lead to severe financial penalties, so getting compliance right from the outset is a must,” Johnson continued.
“Key to this effort should be investing in the latest solutions to easily automate KYC, while understanding and adhering to evolving financial regulations, to allow the organisation to grow without fear of breaching mandatory compliance legislation.”
