The UK’s current system of supervisors overseeing the anti-money-laundering (AML) programs of law firms, accountancies, and other professional bodies is failing to take “sufficiently dissuasive disciplinary measures” against those that fail to meet compliance standards, according to a new report. 

The findings, by the UK’s Office for Professional Body AML Supervision (OPBAS), come as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to assume compliance oversight over the firms. OPBAS, which supervises 22 professional bodies that police more than 41,000 firms and practitioners for AML compliance, found that some of the supervisory organizations take an overly “member-centric” approach to enforcement. 

In a review of six professional body supervisors conducted between Q4 2024 and Q1 2026, the office found that covered businesses and entities had moderately improved their compliance controls on the whole. But OPBAS was “less assured” that the supervisory organizations had been robust and effective when it came to their supervision and enforcement duties.

Enforcement performance continued to lag other supervisory areas, OPBAS said, warning that some supervisory bodies rely too heavily on “assisted compliance” rather than taking effective disciplinary measures, and noting that enforcement decisions can be hard to find online, undercutting their intended impact as a deterrent.

OPBAS, which is part of the FCA, separately found that some professional body supervisors should improve the internal policies for suspicious activity reports and training and review practices.

In October, HM Treasury disclosed plans to make the FCA the sole AML and counterterrorism financing supervisor for the legal, accountancy, and trust and company service provider sectors.

In its consultation response, HM Treasury said it will implement the “Single Professional Services Supervisor” (SPSS) model, transferring AML/CTF supervision of professional services firms to the FCA. UK law firms have signaled that they expect the change to bring tougher enforcement. 

Read the OPBAS report here