NCA Publishes 2026 Strategic Assessment on Serious Organised Crime

Key findings include:

➡️ Rising SOC Threat: The overall serious and organised crime threat increased in 2025 and is expected to continue growing, with greater scale, sophistication and resilience;

➡️ Technology as a Driver: Technology is no longer just an enabler but a core driver of SOC, particularly in fraud and cybercrime;

➡️ Growth in Illicit Finance: The threat from illicit finance remained strong, reflecting higher criminal profits, and more organised facilitation;

➡️ Criminal Convergence: Organised crime groups are diversifying and collaborating across multiple crime types, including links between fraud, human trafficking and wider organised criminal networks; and

➡️ Global & Geopolitical Factors: Criminal networks are increasingly exploiting global instability and operating across jurisdictions, reinforcing the transnational nature of SOC.

✅ Firms should ensure financial crime frameworks are adaptable to increasingly complex, technology-driven and cross-border risks, with particular focus on fraud, illicit finance and interconnected criminal typologies.