UK FCA Seizes Payments Firm That Moved £2 Billion for High-Risk Clients Amid Money Laundering Fears

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has taken decisive enforcement action against Euro Exchange Securities UK Ltd., a British payments company, forcing it into administration over fears it was facilitating money laundering on a significant scale. Court filings made public around June 22, 2026, revealed the striking concentration of risk within the firm's operations.

According to the High Court documents, Euro Exchange Securities told the FCA in August that it had processed more than 20,000 payments totaling £2.1 billion ($2.7 billion) over the previous 12 months. Almost the entire value of those transactions was conducted on behalf of just 14 clients — all of whom the firm had itself assessed as posing a 'high risk' of money laundering. The FCA moved to seize control of the firm earlier in June, alleging it presented 'significant risks of financial crime' and 'unacceptable money-laundering risks to the UK financial system.'

The regulatory action followed six years of mounting concern. The FCA had authorized Euro Exchange Securities to operate as an electronic-money institution (EMI) in 2018, but began 'sustained supervisory engagement' just two years later over perceived weaknesses. A formal probe launched in May 2024 found the firm lacked adequate systems and controls for onboarding and monitoring clients. The court filings detailed troubling examples, including an account for a newly incorporated company with a €500,000 monthly turnover, a single director, minimal share capital, no website, and a confusing cross-border profile spanning Poland, the Baltic states, and a Latvian owner.

The seizure is part of a broader FCA effort to clean up the UK payments sector. Matthew Long, the FCA's director of payments and digital assets, described the EMI sector — which the regulator has authorized in large numbers in recent years — as increasingly concerning due to fraud and poor anti-crime controls. The FCA has separately placed related firms Monevium Ltd and Amplifi Capital (UK) into administration in June 2026, signaling intensified scrutiny of the fast-growing fintech payments space.