What changed in the enforcement guide
In the revised Enforcement Guide ‘ENFG’, which came into force on 3rd June 2025, the starting point remains unchanged: the FCA will not normally publicise the fact that it is or is not investigating. Investigations will accordingly usually remain confidential. The question thus remains: what justifies a departure from that position?
As made clear in section 4.1.2G of the ENFG, the principal test for naming continues to be whether there are “exceptional circumstances” which justify doing so. The wording of that test, now to be found in 4.1.4G of the Guide, has remained the same.
As before, the Guide makes clear that exceptional circumstances may arise where the matters under investigation have become the subject of public concern, speculation, or rumour, in which case it may be desirable for the FCA to make public the fact of its investigation to allay concern or contain speculation. In deciding whether to make such an announcement, the FCA must also consider the potential prejudice to those who are, or are likely to be, the subject of the investigation. The Guide also makes clear that any announcement remains subject to the restriction on disclosure of confidential information in section 348 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and to applicable data protection and other statutory restrictions.
What the Guide now does, however, is to clarify and supplement that framework. It sets out three defined circumstances in which the FCA may make an announcement without relying on the exceptional circumstances test. These are limited categories:
• Investigations into suspected unauthorised activity or suspected criminal offences connected with unregulated activity (where naming is considered desirable to warn or alert consumers or investors, or to assist the investigation, subject to consideration of potential prejudice) (ENFG 4.1.6G);
• Reactive confirmation of an investigation where that fact has already been made public by the subject, an affiliated company or another public body (ENFG 4.1.7G);
• and anonymised announcements where the FCA considers it desirable for educational or compliance purposes (ENFG 4.1.8G).
While anonymised announcements were not unknown in practice, they are now expressly recognised within the framework.
