Market Watch 85: ECCTA and Enhanced Information Sharing to Combat Economic Crime 

In Market Watch 85 , the FCA provides further guidance on the practical use of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) to improve inter-firm information sharing in relation to suspected economic crime, particularly criminal market abuse and market manipulation behaviours. The publication builds on previous FCA expectations that firms should actively consider how to share intelligence where legal gateways exist, and highlights ECCTA as a key enabler in overcoming historic confidentiality barriers.  

Regulatory context  

ECCTA introduces a statutory “safe harbour” permitting regulated firms to share customer and former customer information where specific conditions are met. The regime is designed to improve collective intelligence sharing, particularly where firms operate in fragmented client relationships and may only hold partial visibility of market abuse behaviours. The FCA highlights that market abuse presents a direct threat to market integrity and that improved inter-firm intelligence is essential to strengthening detection, prevention, and supervisory outcomes. Historically, firms have been constrained by confidentiality obligations, resulting in incomplete risk visibility across the market. ECCTA addresses this gap by enabling lawful disclosure without breach of confidentiality or exposure to civil liability, subject to compliance with data protection requirements. 

Scope of ECCTA – offences covered 

ECCTA information-sharing provisions currently apply to offences under the Financial Services Act 2012, specifically: 

1. Section 89 – misleading statements  
2. Section 90 – misleading impressions  
3. Section 91 – misleading statements relating to benchmarks  

At present, ECCTA does not extend to insider dealing, whether under the Criminal Justice Act regime or the civil market abuse framework under UK MAR. However, the Home Office has issued a Call for Evidence considering whether the scope of ECCTA should be expanded to cover additional economic crime offences and further enhance inter-firm intelligence sharing.  

Conditions for information sharing under ECCTA 

Under section 188 ECCTA, firms may share information where either the warning condition or the request condition is satisfied. 

Warning condition (reactive disclosure) 

The warning condition is met where a firm: 

• Has taken safeguarding action against a customer due to suspected economic crime risk, or  
• Would have taken such action had the customer not exited the relationship  

Safeguarding action includes: 

• Termination of a client relationship  
• Refusal to provide a product or service  
• Restriction of access to services otherwise available to comparable customers  

This condition typically applies where a firm has already formed a risk-based conclusion that client activity presents a credible economic crime concern. 

Request condition (proactive intelligence gathering) 

The request condition applies where a firm reasonably believes another regulated firm holds relevant information that may support a “relevant action”. 

Relevant actions include: 

• Preventing, detecting, or investigating economic crime  
• Identifying or verifying a customer  
• Deciding whether to onboard, restrict, or exit a client relationship  
• Assessing whether to refuse or limit services  

This enables firms to obtain external intelligence to support market abuse surveillance, onboarding decisions, and ongoing monitoring frameworks. 

Legal protections and compliance obligations 

Where ECCTA conditions are met: 

• Firms are not in breach of confidentiality obligations  
• Firms are protected from civil liability arising from permitted disclosures  

However, firms must continue to comply with applicable data protection legislation, including: 

• UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) 
• Data Protection Act 2018 Data Protection Act 2018  

It is essential to note that ECCTA does not replace existing regulatory reporting obligations, including: 

• Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the National Crime Agency National Crime Agency  
• Suspicious Transaction and Order Reports (STORs) to the FCA  

Importantly, ECCTA does not require firms to share information prior to submitting SARs or STORs, nor does it condition regulatory reporting on inter-firm disclosure. 

FCA expectations and supervisory focus 

The FCA expects firms to actively consider how ECCTA can be embedded within their financial crime control frameworks. In particular, firms should assess: 

• Whether ECCTA is being appropriately used to support risk management decisions  
• Whether internal policies unnecessarily restrict lawful information sharing  
• Whether ECCTA is integrated into market abuse surveillance processes  
• Whether staff understand when and how to apply the warning and request conditions  

The FCA also indicates that it will increasingly engage with firms on their practical use of ECCTA, including identifying barriers to implementation and assessing effectiveness in mitigating market abuse risk. 

Practical application for firms 

Firms should consider ECCTA as an enhancement to existing financial crime frameworks rather than a standalone regime. In practice, ECCTA may be used to: 

• Request intelligence from another firm to confirm suspected abusive trading patterns  
• Share information following client exit decisions driven by market abuse concerns  
• Support onboarding or offboarding decisions based on external risk intelligence  
• Identify cross-firm behavioural patterns indicative of manipulation strategies  

This is particularly relevant in cases where market abuse behaviours are distributed across multiple accounts, brokers, or trading venues, limiting visibility from a single firm perspective. 

Governance and control considerations 

Firms should ensure ECCTA is supported by robust governance arrangements, including: 

• Clear internal policy defining when ECCTA can be used  
• Defined approval processes for disclosures and requests  
• Documented rationale for safeguarding decisions  
• Audit trails of information shared or received  
• Integration with market abuse surveillance and escalation frameworks  

Firms should also ensure compliance with data protection principles, including data minimisation, purpose limitation, and secure handling of shared information. 

Conclusion 

Market Watch 85 reinforces the FCA’s expectation that firms take a proactive and structured approach to using ECCTA as a tool to enhance financial crime prevention. The regime provides a clear legal gateway for information sharing that was previously constrained by confidentiality concerns, enabling improved detection of market abuse and related economic crime. Firms should now ensure that ECCTA is appropriately embedded within their financial crime frameworks, with clear governance, training, and operational processes in place. Failure to do so may increasingly be viewed by the FCA as a weakness in systems and controls under SYSC requirements. 

How Complyport Can Help? 

1. Regulatory and Compliance Support: Complyport provides ongoing advisory support to help firms interpret and implement regulatory requirements within their broader compliance frameworks, including reviewing financial crime and conduct risk arrangements, supporting updates to policies and procedures, assisting with the embedding of new regulatory expectations into governance structures, and providing guidance on regulatory engagement and supervisory expectations.
2. Tailored Training: Complyport delivers tailored training solutions designed to support firms in maintaining a strong compliance culture and ensuring staff awareness of key regulatory obligations, including financial crime risk management, market conduct expectations, governance and escalation frameworks, and the practical application of regulatory requirements across relevant business areas.
3. Specialist Advisory Services: Complyport’s specialist consultants provide practical, commercially focused support to assist firms in strengthening compliance frameworks, enhancing governance and control structures, supporting regulatory readiness and remediation activity, and advising on the implementation of regulatory change in a proportionate and effective manner.

Contact Us 

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