Call to target British havens

FSA, Treasury and SOCA urged by the Commons Public Accounts Commitee ‘to deploy their expertise and capacity jointly’ to manage risks in financial centres

Written by Our Parliamentary Correspondent

British investigators and prosecutors should be deployed to enforce money-laundering and other financial regulation in tax havens operating among the 14 remaining British overseas territories, the Commons Public Accounts Committee has urged.

In a report it called on the FSA, the Treasury and the Serious Organised Crime Agency ‘to deploy their expertise and capacity jointly’ to manage risks in financial centres.

MPs also urged greater efforts to improve public accountability arrangements amid evidence that state bodies handling billions of dollars are up to six years in arrears producing reports and lack accountancy expertise.

Seven of the territories run offshore financial centres with Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands of ‘high importance’ in the global financial system.

But it warned while these three have achieved major improvements in regulatory capacity since 2000, there is ‘a serious risk of money laundering’ in the smaller territories.

The FCO agreed more needs to be done, but stressed the self-governing nature of the territories and accepted their evolution as tax havens to diversify their economies.

Enjoyed this article? Help spread the word:

Comments

Reader comments for this story

White papers

Related jobs

Spotlight

Richard Atkinson, FD of All England Tennis Court

Profile: Richard Atkinson, FD of All England Tennis Club

As Wimbledon reaches a heady climax, the FD of All...

PwC 10-year anniversary special report

Relive how the controversial mega-merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers...

Make partner fast with YP

The latest edition of Young Professional features our definitive guide...

Find your next job

Find your next job
Salary Checker

Newsletters

Sign up here for the very latest news delivered to your inbox. Choose from the following options:

Search white papers

Search white papers

Have your say

Has the credit crunch made you fear for your job?
Yes, my company says jobs will go
Maybe, if things get worse, I could be hit
No, business is quite stable

Job of the week

More finance jobs...

Your next job