Compliance Corner: UK Creates Task Force Against Dirty Money

Editorial Staff

15 January 2019

The UK government is launching a “task force” drawn from senior banking industry figures and others to thwart fraud, corruption and dirty money, a move coming in the wake of other measures by the administration against illicit finance.

The chief executives of Santander, Lloyds and Barclays banks will be among members of the Economic Crime Strategic Board, a new entity to consider what to do about fighting the problem, according to Reuters and other reports.

“We need to take action on all fronts to target the corrupt fraudsters who are lining their pockets with dirty money and living luxury lifestyles at the expense of law-abiding citizens,” Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who will jointly chair the task force with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, said. The reported cited figures from the government saying that up to $18.50 billion worth of economic crime is committed every year.

The UK is taking a number of steps to squeeze dirty money, such as its Unexplained Wealth Order regime that was introduced last year. It has also suspended its Tier 1 Investor Visa programme, pending a review, amid concerns about its possible misuse. As far as domestic tax evasion is concerned, evasion is now a strict liability offence – authorities no longer have to prove intent.

A concern has been that London, an international financial centre, has been a soft touch in the past for criminals.