The Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, Sir Howard Davies, yesterday faced a 'courtroom-style' hearing in Westminster over the agency's ability to fight money laundering in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
The Commons Select Committee hearing was already scheduled before the latest international efforts to crack down on money laundering began in earnest, but as revelations that the UK may have been used by terrorist groups such as Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network to move and launder criminal funds continue to emerge, Sir Howard is under pressure to counter criticisms that the UK is a 'soft touch'.
Speaking to The Times, Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington, James Plaskitt, explained: 'We were going to raise this issue before the terrorist attacks but they have given it heightened urgency. We are going to want answers on what they propose to do about money laundering and what approach they will take.'
This hearing follows revelations by the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, that the UK government is to create an anti-terrorist finance unit under new legislation which it is hoped will be passed within the next few weeks. The draft bill includes proposals to allow 'suspicious' asylum seekers to be detained, which will doubtless cause consternation among civil rights groups, provisions to allow the police to freeze funds, and a relaxation of banking secrecy rules to allow financial institutions to disclose certain transactions.
The UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown, also recently announced his intention to clamp down on bureaux de change, which it is believed have been used to launder money in the past. It is estimated that the move could cost the money changing industry up to £4.2 million in compliance costs.
.
Network Tweets
Network BlogsContent
provided by
|
Archive | Resources | Partners | Site Map | Links | Newsletter Archive | Contact | RSS Feeds | About | Syndication | Advertising & Marketing | Recruitment | Terms & Conditions | Privacy & Cookies
Copyright © 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Tax-News.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Tax-News.com has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments.
Write a comment