The UK government is seeking case studies from financial firms to demonstrate improved efforts in combating money laundering, aiming to reassure the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that London has strengthened its financial crime controls. The initiative follows a 2018 FATF assessment that criticized the UK for allegedly allowing its financial sector to become a magnet for illicit funds. By highlighting successful cases where banks and legal firms blocked suspicious transactions, officials hope to counter past scrutiny and rebuild confidence in the country’s anti-money-laundering measures. The move comes as the government faces ongoing pressure to prove tangible progress in tightening financial oversight.
City firms tapped for case studies to try to convince global watchdog that London has cleaned up its actThe government is asking bankers and lawyers to provide feelgood stories about how they blocked dirty money from entering the UK, as ministers try to prove the UK’s money-laundering controls are working.The Treasury’s call for evidence is meant to illustrate that the UK has upped its game when it comes to preventing financial crime, particularly since its last dismal assessment by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) global crime watchdog in 2018, which fuelled allegations that London had become a hub for “dirty money”. Continue reading...
