The Treasury Committee completed an inquiry into economic crime
in the previous Parliament. It focussed on the UK’s anti-money
laundering systems and sanctions implementation system, as well
as the impact of economic crime from a consumer perspective.
The Treasury Committee is today launching a new inquiry to review
what progress has been made in combatting economic crime. This
inquiry will also have two strands:
- Anti-money laundering systems and the sanctions regime,
including the FinCEN papers and the work of the Office for
Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS)
- Consumers, including emerging trends as a result of
coronavirus and Authorised Push Payment Fraud.
The Committee will continue to examine economic crime related to
Bounce Back Loans as part of its ongoing inquiry into the economic
impact of coronavirus.
Commenting on the launch of the inquiry, , Chair of the Treasury Committee, said:
“The previous Committee made a series of recommendations on
the UK’s effort to combat money laundering and what can be done
to prevent consumers from being victims of economic crime.
“The current Committee will now examine what progress
supervisors, law enforcement and the Government has made in these
areas.
“It’s important that the relevant bodies are held to account
and scrutinised effectively to ensure that the UK is a clean
place to do business and that consumers are protected from
economic crime.”
--Ends--
Notes to Editors
- Mr Stride wrote to the Department for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy, the FCA, HMRC and the Home Office on the
FinCEN papers on 22 September 2020. Mr Stride’s letters are
here, and the four
responses are attached. Commenting at the time of sending the
letters, Mr Stride said:
“Some of the information coming from the release of the
FinCEN papers is deeply troubling. The Treasury Committee wants
to know whether Ministers, HMRC and the FCA are on top of
this.
“With various roles to play in combatting economic crime,
it’s vital that the appropriate parts of the system are ready to
act, if required.”
Terms of Reference
In the previous Parliament, the then Treasury Committee undertook
an inquiry into Economic Crime, which looked at the UK’s
anti-money laundering systems and sanction implementation
systems, as well as the impact of economic crime from a consumer
perspective. It reported separately on both streams.
Following on from that work, the current Treasury Committee has
decided to review what progress has been made in combatting
economic crime.
It would therefore welcome written evidence on the following as
regards the UK’s anti-money laundering and sanctions regimes, and
economic crime affecting consumers:
- Concerns regarding or improvements to the UK’s anti-money
laundering and the sanctions regimes, including but not limited
to:
-
- The work of OPBAS and the profession body AML supervisors
- The impact of the FinCEN papers
- Corporate liability for economic crime
- The work of Companies House
- Consumers and economic crime, including but not limited to:
-
- Any emerging trends in consumer facing economic crime as
a result of the COVID crisis
- The operation of the Contingent Reimbursement Model for
Authorised Push Payment Fraud
- The response of financial institutions to economic crime
as it affects consumers
Those submitting written evidence may find it useful to consider
the previous Treasury Committee’s Reports on Economic Crime.
Those responding should note that the Committee will not take up
individual cases, and any suspected criminal activity should be
reported to the appropriate authorities.
- The deadline for evidence submissions is 5pm on Friday 27
November.
- The previous Treasury Committee undertook an inquiry
into economic crime, which had two strands:
-
- Anti-money laundering systems and the implementations of
the sanctions regime
-
- Report, published March 2019, here
- Government response, published May 2019, here
- Consumers
-
- Report, published November 2019, here
- Government, Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) response, published
February 2020, here
