The FCA suspended, removed or blocked more than 1,600 websites last year where it suspected them of promoting financial services products and services without permission.

Its crackdown also resulted in more than 50 apps being removed from Google Play and the App Store.

The numbers have been published in the FCA’s annual report for 2024 which sets out how it has used data and technology to crack down on harm in financial services.

The regulator said new technology helped it identify earlier and 'at scale' firms that did not meet its standards.

During the year the FCA intervened to ensure almost 20,000 non-compliant financial promotions were amended or withdrawn by authorised firms, compared to less than 600 in 2021.

It said it took action during the year to protect social media users from illegal financial promotions pushed by unauthorised social media 'finfluencers.'

The FCA also cancelled the authorisations of more than 1,500 firms - 20% more than in 2023 and more than triple the number in 2021.

Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA, said: "We've embraced data and technology to crack down on harm and ensure high standards.

"I'm proud of our achievements over the course of our last strategy: the biggest changes to listing rules in 30+ years making it easier for companies to raise capital, ensuring good outcomes under the Consumer Duty, and cutting authorisation times for firms that meet standards.

“We’re ambitious for the future, and committed to enabling a fair and thriving financial services market for the good of consumers and the economy.”

Over the past year, the FCA said it had:

• Fined two banks a total of over £45.5m for financial crime failures on sanction controls and screening and monitoring of money laundering risks.
• Issued 2,240 alerts about unauthorised firms and individuals.
• Targeted unauthorised influencers, interviewing 20 under caution for illegally promoting financial products and issuing 38 alerts against finfluencer social media accounts.