A cross-party group of MPs has called on the next government to continue the fight against economic crime by strengthening the UK’s anti-money laundering (AML) rules and tightening the country’s corporate anti-corruption legislation.

APPG’s Economic Crime Manifesto

The Economic Crime Manifesto, published in April 2024 by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax and the APPG on Fair Business Banking, urges the winner of July’s general election to continue “pursuing the fight against our dirty money epidemic” and “move Britain from being a haven for illicit wealth to a global leader in the fight against corruption, fraud, and dirty money”.

Although the group of senior MPs acknowledges that some progress has been made clamping down on money laundering in the UK in recent years, the group believes that “there are significant areas where government rhetoric has not been matched by action.”

“The flawed Economic Crime Act cannot be the end of the road. By putting proper transparency, tough enforcement, genuine accountability and smart regulation at the heart of all we do, we can send the world’s crooks and kleptocrats a message: Britain is once again open for clean business,” wrote Dame Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the APPG on Anti-Corruption & Responsible Tax, in the manifesto.

Criticisms and Areas for Reform

The APPG manifesto criticises the government’s second Economic Crime Plan for not committing any new funding to the fight against economic crime, and instead “reheating” the £400 million already committed in the 2021 Spending Review, half of which comes from private sector contributions.

The APPG report also says it is concerned at the overall capacity of the UK’s law enforcement bodies and the lack of prioritisation of economic crime over other types of crimes.

The manifesto declares that this year’s election winner has a “unique chance for global leadership” on tackling economic crime and urges the future government to undertake reform in four key areas:

1. Transparency. Identify who really owns companies, trusts and assets so that not just law enforcement agencies, but others – from journalists to businesses and from civil society to politicians – can more easily follow the money.
2. Regulation. Implement smart regulations so that professionals who facilitate economic crimes are held to account and, more importantly, deterred from engaging in malpractice.
3. Enforcement. Toughen up enforcement agencies and ensure that they are adequately resourced to consistently enforce the law.
4. Accountability. Ensure that Parliament, the public, businesses, journalists and civil society are able to hold the Government to account and that transparent processes are in place to guard against the pervasive influence of corruption and dirty money in politics.  

Key Recommendations

The APPG’s Economic Crime Manifesto makes various recommendations for reform. These include:

• There should be no greater privacy for those who own assets through trusts, compared to those who own assets directly or through an overseas company. The existing UK trust register housed in HMRC should be made more transparent, so that everybody can understand who controls trusts; such transparency would deter the use of trusts to commit wrongdoing.
• The Register of Overseas Entities should publish information on the owners of UK properties. This should include publishing information about the parties to trusts that own properties via overseas entities, so we can get a clear picture of the ultimate beneficial owners of all properties in the UK.
• The Government must bring forward a ‘failure to prevent’ fraud offence, which covers companies of all sizes, and they must introduce a new ‘failure to prevent’ money laundering offence. 
• The Government must broaden the scope of regulations on the enablers of economic crime. The Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) should cover private schools, universities, PR agencies, developers, all letting agents and commodity traders. The Government should also re-examine the case for litigation to be exempt from anti-money laundering duties.
• The Government must toughen up our enforcement of sanctions in partnership with our international allies.
• The Government must reform public procurement rules so that it is easier to debar and exclude companies that have been complicit in fraud or economic crimes.

To read the APPG’s full report, click here.

AML Solutions for Regulated Services

We can help organisations of all shapes and sizes from across different sectors undertake a review of their policies, controls, and procedures to ensure that they are compliant with AML regulations and, therefore, avoid any breaches.

A review of this nature provides valuable insight into a business when performed correctly. Along with an overview of risk, these crucial assessments also highlight issues within the business, so it is essential to undertake a proper review. All of a company’s building blocks must be considered, including its staff, clients, operations, and finances.

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Our services focus on businesses’ Anti-Money Laundering and Regulatory requirements through the implementation of effective policies, procedures, training, and consultancy. We also provide continued monitoring of staff and ongoing training to ensure that everyone within a business is aware of the latest requirements and complies with their responsibilities. We offer a full range of services focused on ensuring businesses across all regulated sectors create, maintain and evidence their compliance with the requirements of their regulators and legislation. We work with businesses of all sizes, from the smaller high street or niche businesses to the large multi-office and multinationals.  Call us on: 0203 985 8550 or email us at: info@regulationandcomplianceoffice.co.uk