Around £100bn in criminal cash is laundered each year through the UK, making it one of the world’s main hubs for money laundering, a new report has revealed.

The National Economic Crime Centre’s (NECC) Annual Report for 2023–2024, published on 11 September 2024, estimates that potentially as much as £100bn in criminal profits is laundered annually through and within the UK or by using UK-registered corporate structures.

Around a tenth of this (£12bn) is generated within the UK, the NECC found.

However, unless action is taken, it is likely that this figure will grow. “The threat to the UK from economic crime continues to grow and is increasingly complex,” said James Babbage, Director General for Threats at the National Crime Agency (NCA), in his foreword to the report.

“Those committing fraud, money laundering, bribery and corruption, and sanctions evasion threaten the UK economy, undermine our international reputation and cause significant financial and emotional harm to victims, from individuals to large corporations,” he continued.

Fraud remains the most common crime in the UK. According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, fraud constitutes 37% of all crimes experienced by the UK public, with an estimated 3.2m fraud offences in the year ending March 2024.

Over 70% of all fraud offences in the UK have ties to overseas criminals, and over 80% are cyber-enabled, reveals the report.

Many offences are facilitated by the UK’s open economy, which the report believes is attractive to those wanting to launder the proceeds of crime and corruption, including money linked to kleptocracy and corrupt politically exposed persons (PEPs).

Technological advances mean that the threat of financial abuse continues to grow. In addition to the ongoing exploitation of cash, UK corporate structures and the UK banking sector, the NECC has witnessed a rise over the past year in the misuse of crypto assets and non-banking payment services, such as e-money institutions, to move illicit finance.

The NECC is taking various steps to counter the issue. “The NECC continues to work with public and private sector partners, both in the UK and overseas, to better understand the threat, direct the operational response, and identify changes to legislation and other potential enhancements to the UK’s response,” revealed the report.

Particular focus has been on the introduction into law of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), which came into force in stages in the UK in 2023 and 2024.

Under the ECCTA, Companies House will be integrated into law enforcement governance and staff will be upskilled on illicit finance risks and intelligence best practice.

The introduction of the Register of Overseas Entities has also had a significant impact on the reduction of money laundering and financial crimes.

As a result of law enforcement measures that have been introduced in recent years, system-wide disruptions against fraud and illicit finance have increased year on year.

In 2023/2024, there were 2050 instances of all-system disruption for illicit finance and 2862 for fraud. This is an increase of 1990 for illicit finance and 1854 for fraud the previous year, and a considerable jump from 115 cases for illicit finance and 186 for fraud in 2019/2020.

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