The UK is leading the world in the fight against illicit
finance, according to the Financial Action
Task Force’s (FATF)
report published today (Friday 7 December 2018).
FATF, the
global standard-setter for anti-money laundering and
counter-terrorist financing, gave the UK its highest
possible rating for measures including how the UK tackles
terrorist financing, and its use of financial sanctions
against terrorists. This means out of the 60 countries
assessed, the UK has one of the toughest anti-money
laundering regimes in the world; stronger than any other
country assessed to date.
, Economic Secretary to the
Treasury and City Minister said:
There is absolutely no place for dirty money or the
people that launder it in our country, so I am incredibly
proud that today’s report confirms that the UK has one of
the strongest regimes in the world for deterring these
criminals.
Our law enforcement agencies and our regulators have done
an exceptional job at bringing the fight to the
terrorists and crooks, but there is always more we can
do. That’s why we will continue to improve our defences
and work with our international partners to find,
disrupt, and prosecute anyone dealing in illicit money.
, Minister for Security
and Economic Crime said:
The UK has taken a leading role in the global fight
against illicit finance. I’m delighted with today’s
report which shows our efforts are being recognised, and
sends a strong message to criminals that we will come for
them, their assets and their money.
We will use all the powers and tactics we have, as set
out in the new Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, to
drive money launderers out of the UK and clamp down on
those that threaten our security. The strategy sets out
how we are working with the private sector, the public
and international partners on our integrated and powerful
response.
As one of the largest and most important financial centres
in the world, it’s vital that the UK has the right controls
to ensure that money passing through its complex financial
system is legitimate. Other UK controls and practises
praised within FATF’s ‘Mutual
Evaluation Report’ include:
- aggressively investigating and prosecuting money
laundering, with over 1,400 convictions a year, and
adopting new tools such as Unexplained Wealth Orders
- using all means at its disposal to disrupt terrorist
financing, including criminal justice measures (with over
100 convictions over the last three years for relevant
offences), confiscating funds, and using financial
sanctions
- preventing the misuse of companies and trusts, acting
as a global leader by adopting a public register of company
beneficial ownership and a register of trusts with tax
consequences
- working with international partners to tackle illicit
finance, through a strong legal framework and a liaison
network spanning over 160 jurisdictions
To maintain its world leading status, the UK government is
redoubling its efforts in the fight against economic crime
by establishing a new unit within the National Crime
Agency, focused entirely on fighting dirty money. The new
National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) will for the
first time bring together law enforcement agencies,
government departments, regulatory bodies, and the private
sector, to fight dirty money. It will have access to an
expansive range of intelligence tools and capabilities to
ensure economic crime is dealt with quickly and
effectively.
The UK received the highest possible rating (“High level of
effectiveness”) in FATF’s report in these
areas:
- Taking significant steps to understand the threat of
illicit finance, and coordinating responses to these
threats (“Immediate Outcome 1”)
- Using all available measures to disrupt terrorist
financing, including criminal justice measures,
confiscating funds, and using financial sanctions
(“Immediate Outcome 9”)
- Promoting effective global use of financial sanctions
against terrorists and against proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction (“Immediate Outcomes 10 and 11”)
The UK received the second-highest possible rating
(“Substantial level of effectiveness”) in these areas:
- Working with international partners to tackle illicit
finance (“Immediate Outcome 2”)
- Aggressively investigating and prosecuting money
laundering (“Immediate Outcome 7”)
- Preventing the misuse of companies and trusts
(“Immediate Outcome 5”)
- Confiscation of the proceeds of crime (“Immediate
Outcome 8”)
The UK will report back to FATF in five
years, and will set out its response to the recommendations
in the FATF report in
due course.
In addition, the government has already committed to:
- Regulating virtual currencies for AML/CTF purposes by
the end of 2019, to tackle emerging risks in the sector
- Reforming the Suspicious Activity Reports
(SARs)
regime, to further improve the use of financial
intelligence in the UK
- Taking appropriate action on mitigating the threats
posed by limited partnerships, pending the outcome of a
consultation by BEIS,
and looking at controls over who registers companies in the
UK, what information they have to provide, and how
assurance is provided over that information
- Continuing the use of powers implemented under the
Criminal Finances Act 2017, including Unexplained Wealth
Orders to investigate suspicious financial activity in its
fight against ML
