The Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade ( of Lainston) (Con):...We have
already taken unprecedented action to prevent kleptocrats and
organised criminals abusing our open economy. We were the first
G20 country to establish a public register of domestic company
beneficial ownership in 2016. We introduced new powers in the
Criminal Finances Act 2017, including account-freezing orders,
which in 2021-22 alone enabled £132 million-worth of assets to be
frozen or seized. We secured £400 million through the spending
review and the new economic crime levy to support law enforcement
over the next three years. We established both the National
Economic Crime Centre to co-ordinate the law enforcement response
to economic crime and, more recently, the combating kleptocracy
cell in the National Crime
Agency to target corrupt elites...
(Con):...Secondly, I learned that payment for legal advice is not
subject to the same type of money laundering regulation checks as
other legal services. In addition, key parts of the Proceeds of
Crime Act, which should require solicitors to report suspicious
activity to the National Crime
Agency apparently do not apply to the conduct of
litigation by lawyers. I accept that lawyers will need to
represent individuals from all walks of life, including
criminals, but that does not mean they should profit from dirty
money. Again, this loophole is odd, to say the least, because it
suggests a risk that dirty money can be used to pay lawyers to
pursue abusive lawsuits aiming to silence journalists. That is
particularly ironic, given that money laundering tends to be a
key topic of interest for investigative journalists. Indeed, one
of our witnesses made explicit allegations that the law firm
pursuing a SLAPP case against her was working for someone using
illegitimate funds. I recommend taking this opportunity to close
that loophole and send a message that law firms should be doing
everything in their power to uphold proper standards of due
diligence...
(Lab):...I am not
sure that we have paid due attention to the huge damage that this
does to our national finances, and we should look through the
prism of that. The numbers quoted by different organisations are
extraordinary. The National Crime
Agency estimated £100 billion annually, and
Spotlight on Corruption estimated £190 billion annually. These
are extraordinary numbers that we cannot afford. Of course, what
we know is that we have to follow the money. Where does this
money actually go and what is it then used for, in the hands of
criminals and corrupt Governments, with economic crime funding
other serious organised crime such as people trafficking, drug
smuggling, arms dealing and fraud? As we have heard from many
contributions, it also helps those in power abroad looking to
silence whistleblowers, muzzling democratic opposition and, as we
know, waging war against other nations...
For context, OPEN HERE
