The UK’s just-enacted corporate crime legislation is a step in the right direction but failed to address a wide range of risks and challenges. Nonetheless, in the current climate, more legislation will soon follow. In light of such developments, global risk and compliance teams need to take a fresh look at their UK operations.
Does the UK face a corruption challenge? In January, Lord Theodore Agnew, the minister in the treasury and cabinet office with responsibility for counter-fraud and cross-government efficiency, unexpectedly resigned. His cited reason: the government’s “lamentable” oversight of the COVID-19 loans schemes and ministers “foolishly” shelving plans to introduce a new economic crime bill in the coming parliamentary session.
The stir following Agnew’s statements and resignation prompted members of Parliament to debate the urgent need to reform the allegedly weak and outdated legislation that, according to them, has turned the city of London into a haven for illicit financial flows from across the world. Enter the surprise crisis in Ukraine, and a UK government economic crime bill suddenly found swift passage to become law.
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act focuses on foreign ownership of UK property, unexplained wealth orders and proposals to assist the…
