In February 2022, the Prime Minister committed to bringing forward an Economic Crime Bill in the third parliamentary session. In this briefing, developed in partnership with the APPG on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax and the APPG on Fair Business Banking, we outline the key reforms that should be included in this legislation. These include:
Creating a register of overseas companies that own UK property.
Empowering Companies House to monitor, verify, and investigate suspicious companies.
Strengthening Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs).
Introducing a ‘failure to prevent’ offence for money laundering, fraud, and false accounting.
Fixing the UK’s fragmented and ineffective anti-money laundering supervisory regime.