UK’s Economic Crime Plan announced
The Economic Crime Plan, published today (30 March 2023), outlines the UK Government’s three-year plan to cut crime, protect national security and support the country’s economic growth and competitiveness.
The Plan outlines a new drive to reduce money laundering and recover more assets from financial crime, combat kleptocracy and reduce sanctions evasion, and cut fraud. It’s funded partly by the Government, and partly by the newly introduced Economic Crime Levy.
The National Crime Agency estimates that over £100 billion is laundered annually through UK institutions, and the new drive aims to deliver “real world outcomes” to cut this dizzying figure.
In a six pronged attack on financial criminals, the ECP will:
· Introduce 475 new financial crime investigators focusing on money laundering and asset recovery
· Set up a crypto cell to tackle criminal abuse of crypto assets
· Establish a ‘combatting kleptocracy’ cell targeting corrupt elites and their enablers
· Take a new approach to public- private prioritisation to prevent, detect and disrupt economic crime
· Reform the existing supervisory regime, promoting greater information and intelligence sharing
· Invest in cutting-edge technology to give law enforcement agencies the intelligence they need to prosecute cases.
Industry leaders from UK Finance, the ABI, the Accountancy AML Supervisors Group and the Law Society have welcomed the plan, and in a joint statement, say -
“Over the past four years since the first Plan was agreed, our sectors have invested significant resource in working closely with law enforcement, regulators and the government to stem the flow of illicit finance that underpins serious and organised crime. The second Plan looks to build on this partnership by bringing a new focus to fraud and sanctions evasion, and by setting new ambitions to rationalise and strengthen the economic crime system, so that public and private sector actors are all addressing the same priorities.”
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Photo by Marin-Alexandru Andreescu on Unsplash
