Three people have been arrested for insider dealing following a joint operation between the FCA and the National Crime Agency (NCA).
The joint operation saw 100 FCA and NCA staff take part in searches at five residential premises in London and Manchester this month.
Over 30 mobile phones, laptops and tablets were seized during the searches.
The three suspects are in the process of being interviewed by the FCA at police stations in London and Manchester.
Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said fighting financial crime was a priority in the regulator’s 5-year strategy.
He said: “Insider dealing is a serious threat to the integrity of our markets. Working with partners, we will continue to use all the powers at our disposal to crack down on serious and organised crime groups engaged in market abuse.”
In 2025/26, the FCA secured 4 insider dealing convictions, with 2 resulting in record sentences totalling 11 years of imprisonment. Twelve people were fined a total of £1.77m for insider dealing, market manipulation and making misleading statements.
Investment fraud remains a priority, the FCA said in its annual report, but dealing with it is a major job and the number of investment fraud warnings is up despite efforts.
Some 17 criminal convictions were secured during the year, including for fraud, insider dealing, money laundering and other offences.
The FCA said its fight against serious risks and harms has delivered an estimated £5.6bn in benefits to consumers, firms and the wider economy.
The FCA also fined firms about £14.4m for transaction reporting failures and control weaknesses and issued a £42m fine to Barclays for anti-money laundering failures.
The number of customers removed as money mules rose by 4.4% compared to last year, reaching 222,173 across 35 firms, the FCA said.
Insider dealing contravenes the conduct rules in Article 14 of the UK Market Abuse Regulation relating to insider dealing and unlawful disclosure of inside information.