Government plan puts UK at forefront of fight against economic crime

The response to economic crime will be bolstered by 475 new and highly trained financial crime investigators, spread across intelligence, enforcement and asset recovery at key agencies. This increased capacity will be targeted toward the detection and disruption of money laundering and the recovery of an additional £1 billion in criminal assets across the next decade.   

Building on the Government’s “unprecedented package” of sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the National Crime Agency’s Combating Kleptocracy Cell will be expanded to target more corrupt elites and their enablers, while consolidating the effectiveness of UK sanctions.   

As criminals seek new ways in which to launder their profits, the Government is investing £100 million in cutting-edge technology, including data analytics, to equip law enforcement with the tools they need to stay one step ahead.

A new multi-agency Crypto Cell will be established that combines law enforcement and regulators to pool expertise and more effectively identify, seize and store illicit crypto assets.

Robust legislation   

Home Secretary Suella Braverman commented: “Economic crime undermines the integrity of our financial system and weakens our national security. Through robust legislation and a strengthened law enforcement response, we’ve certainly come a long way in cracking down on dirty money, but this new Economic Crime Plan helps us go further.”  

Braverman added: “Backed by our partnership with the private sector, we have the resources and expertise we need in order to identify criminal networks and confiscate the proceeds of their illicit activities.”

Co-operation with the private sector is critical to the success of Economic Crime Plan 2, which is why the Government will develop a new approach to public-private prioritisation designed to maximise collective intelligence and resource when it comes to detecting and disrupting economic crime.  

The UK’s supervisory regime will be strengthened, with increased information sharing between partners, and greater Government oversight will seek to ensure effectiveness and compliance with money laundering regulations.

Step change in response  

Treasury Lords Minister Baroness Penn stated: “Economic crime harms our economy and destroys lives. More funding from Government and the new contribution from industry through the new levy will allow us to deliver a step change in our response.”  

While the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill progresses through Parliament, the multi-stakeholder Economic Crime Plan 2 ensures that Government can maximise the new powers through strengthened capacity and greater expertise. This will enable swift and effective action to be taken to identify fake companies and hold criminals to account.  

The three-year plan is backed by £400 million in additional investment to tackle economic crime over the Spending Review Period. This includes £200 million of Government investment and £200 million from the Economic Crime (Anti-Money Laundering) Levy raised from the private sector.

This funding will ensure a step-change in the Government’s response by supporting the delivery of critical economic crime reforms, including those set out in the Economic Crime Plan. The latter also commits us to exploring new ways to reinvest suspected illicit funds back into combatting economic crime and supporting victims.

Key priority   

Bob Wigley, chair of UK Finance, observed: “Tackling economic crime is a key priority for the banking and finance industry. We welcome the launch of the second Economic Crime Plan. Partnerships between the private sector, law enforcement, regulators and Government are vitally important. Through this new plan, we will continue to work together to ensure our collective system more effectively combats all forms of economic crime.”  

Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Crime Agency (NCA) observed: “The NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre has led the way in bringing together the public and private sectors to ensure systems are in place to tackle high harm financial crime and protect the UK’s public, financial structures and reputation. The reforms detailed in the Economic Crime Plan are crucial to move us to the next level in our fight against dirty money that fuels serious and organised crime. They will enhance our capabilities to identify illicit finance and drive it out of the UK by targeting corrupt elites and the money launderers upon whom criminal gangs rely.”  

Michael Izza, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said: “We are supportive of the measures set out in this plan which will help in the fight against economic crime. Further, we will continue to invest in robust supervision, education and intelligence-sharing.”  

Izza added: “A key success of the first Economic Crime Plan was developing the partnership between accountancy and the public sector to crack down on money-laundering. Tackling economic crime and driving dirty money out of the UK’s financial systems will be best achieved by Government working closely with professional body supervisors. We look forward to collaborating on the actions outlined in the second Economic Crime Plan.”