UK's New Anti-Money Laundering Laws Attacked

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

10 June 2003

Experts have warned that the number of new business sectors set to come under the remit of the Proceeds of Crime Act in the autumn could mean that police are unable to deal with the volume of suspicious activity reporting.

Casinos, estate agents, auditors, and solicitors are among the many sectors which will soon be obliged to file such reports if they are unable to satisfy themselves of the origin of the funds being handled. According to the Guardian, reporting on the issue on Monday:

'Reports are filed to the national criminal intelligence service which is based in Scotland Yard and then sent to the national crime squad or local police forces for further investigation. While NCIS has dramatically increased its staffing in the past two years, fraud experts believe local police forces will be unable to cope.'

Since the Proceeds of Crime Act came into effect in February, the NCIS has seen the number of suspicious activity reports from finance companies rise to 7,000 a month, mainly as a result of new rules which mean that reporting officers in finance companies can face criminal prosecution if they cannot adequately explain why their suspicions were not reported to the police.

Speaking to the Guardian, banking and technology partner at London's Osborne Clarke, Robert Courtneidge, suggested that the rapid expansion of the number of business sectors covered by the Act, on top of this, is likely to cause chaos.

'I think the whole system will grind to a halt in response - businesses will either not bother to file reports and take the risk of criminal penalties, or they will file them knowing the deal could be delayed and ultimately fall through,' he warned.

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