Skip to content
International Adviser
  • Contact
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Regions
    • United Kingdom
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • North America
    • Latin America
  • Industry
    • Tax & Regulation
    • Products
    • Life
    • Health & Protection
    • People Moves
    • Companies
    • Offshore Bonds
    • Retirement
    • Technology
    • Platforms
  • Investment
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Alternatives
    • Multi Asset
    • Property
    • Macro Views
    • Structured Products
    • Emerging Markets
    • Commodities
  • IA 100
  • Best Practice
    • Best Practice News
    • Best Practice Awards
  • Media
    • Video
    • Podcast
  • My IA
    • Events
    • IA Tax Panel
    • IA Intermediary Panel
    • About IA

ANNOUNCEMENT: Read more financial articles on our partner site, click here to read more.

SIGN IN INTERNATIONAL ADVISER

Access full content on the International Adviser site, access your saved articles, control email preferences and amend your account details

[login-with-ajax]
Not Registered?

UAE and Hong Kong among biggest UK money laundering threats

By Will Grahame-Clarke, 16 May 18

The UAE and Hong Kong have been included in a list of overseas jurisdictions which the UK’s National Crime Agency says have the most enduring money laundering impact on the UK.

StanChart Singapore hit with $5m fine for Guernsey transfers

The two jurisdicitions join an ignominious list which includes China, Russia and Pakistan.

“Some of these jurisdictions have large financial sectors which also make them attractive as destinations or transit points for the proceeds of crime,” the NCA said in its National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime report.

It also discusses such practices as buying property in crook’s family members’ names and setting up corporate structures such as Scottish Limited Partnerships to launder money, which the NCA says is too easy.

Unwitting enablers

The report also highlights the role of professional enablers, like IFAs, who “can be complicit, negligent or unwitting but are key facilitators in the money laundering process” but “who may not necessarily be complicit in the criminality”.

However, the NCA said those involved in trust and company services pose the greatest money laundering threat and are “often key enablers in high-end money laundering”.

While there is no reliable estimate of the total value of laundered funds that impact on the UK, the NCA estimates, “there is a realistic possibility the scale of money laundering impacting the UK annually is in the hundreds of billions of pounds”.

Brexit impact

The NCA report also finds that Brexit will create opportunities for cross border business crime but a harder border might make it easier to police traffic.

“We expect that many will strive to take advantage of the opportunities that Brexit might present, for example from the design and implementation of a new UK customs system or from increased challenges for EU and UK law enforcement in locating and extraditing international fugitives if the UK were to lose enforcement or intelligence sharing tools.”

Corporate crime expert Laura Dunseath of Pinsent Masons, said: “Brexit will continue to pose a risk of increased criminality for UK companies. There is still a need for better clarity around the types of cooperation frameworks that the authorities are going to have in place with their EU counterparts to replace existing frameworks for arrest warrants and extradition agreements.

“Calls for greater clarity have been voiced on several occasions by the likes of the Serious Fraud Office, but uncertainty remains,” Dunseath said.

Tags: AML | UAE

Share this article
Follow by Email
Facebook
fb-share-icon
X (Twitter)
Post on X
LinkedIn
Share

Related Stories

  • Europe

    Ancelotti hit with 1 year prison sentence for tax fraud

    Latest news

    Stakeholders urge Chancellor not to cut Cash ISA limit

  • Europe

    Swiss AI specialists targets family offices and HNWIs with new ICAV

    Europe

    Bank Lombard Odier & Co Ltd adds BlueBay bond fund to range


NEWSLETTER

Sign Up for International
Adviser Daily Newsletter

subscribe

  • View site map
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact

Published by Money Map Media – part of G&M Media Ltd Copyright (c) 2024.

International Adviser covers the global intermediary market that uses cross-border insurance, investments, banking and pension products on behalf of their high-net-worth clients. No news, articles or content may be reproduced in part or in full without express permission of International Adviser.