The government of the United Kingdom has released a new three-year plan for combating corruption and economic crimes.
Released on last Friday by the United Kingdom government, the economic plan outlines seven priority areas that include money laundering, fraud, and other such economic ills the country currently faces. The mission behind the new financial plan is to create a more transparent economic environment.
As an economic guide, for the financial year of 2019 to 2020, the plan intends to focus on the role of financial products and virtual currencies in propelling criminal activities as well as financial terrorism. The economic policy comes at a time when the relevant government agencies launched a cooperative task force, the Economic Crime Strategic Board in January.
Showing the seriousness the UK government is approaching the matter of economic crimes. It is the Economic Strategic Board that commissioned the new Economic plan. Also, the board is made up of the U.K Home Secretary, who chairs the committee, the chancellor and several bank executives.
When the government was introducing the plan to the public, the official media communique stated,
“The U.K government is keen on establishing a new cryptocurrency apparatus with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). As a government, we are determined to create a crypto regime that will go beyond current international levels. We intend to create one of the most significant global reactions to the use of virtual currencies in illegal activities.”
The New Economic Plan is a Well-funded One
According to research, the U.K government is losing at least 46 billion US Dollars every year to serious and organized crimes.
To fight this fast-emerging economic crime, the U.K government has received about 8.2 million US Dollars from significant financial players to reorganize the Suspicious Activity Reporting authority. The Ministry of Home Affairs also contributed an additional 4.4 million US dollars to the quest.
According to our research, the Asset Recovery Action Plan recovered more than 2 billion US Dollars from corrupt individuals between 2010 and 2018.
The chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond states,
“By coming together as leaders from the business fraternity, the government, and law enforcement, we are better placed to tackle this scourge of corrupt money to ensure our country remains one of the safe havens in the world to invest and do business.”
Under the New Economic Plan, all cryptocurrency-related businesses operating in the U.K will have to comply with combating the financing of terrorism (CTF) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations before early 2020.
Earlier this month, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recommended the veto on Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and crypto currency derivatives for the small-scale buyer in the country. The FCA cited lack of proper knowledge for investment by retail buyers as the reason behind the proposal. During the same time, the FCA granted the first cryptocurrency-based hedge fund in the U.K, Prime Factor Capital, a license to operate.
According to the home secretary, Sajid Javid,
“This new economic plan represents our commitment in our reaction, bringing onboard the public and private sector on the table to relentlessly hunt corrupt individuals and their dirty money.”
No government institution can successfully win the fight against economic crime on its own. That is why governments are embracing public-private partnerships in their fight against the vice. The new Economic Plan outlines the private sector as a significant player in the fight against economic crime as it is considered the first line of defense.
According to findings from the plan, grave crimes that include human trafficking and large-scale drug trade make up the most significant percentage of money laundering in the country. The volume of fraud and corruption was also found out to be growing at an alarming rate. Given the difficult situation in the U.K, the private and public partnership is inevitable to deliver an effective plan against such crimes.
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