Laundering clampdown hit by reporting regime
The government has been warned that forcing financial institutions to report every suspicious transaction is clogging up the system designed to prevent money laundering.
Link: London named as money laundering hotspot
Treasury Committee chairman John McFall said in the Commons the issue emerged from a survey he carried out among 30 banks and building societies.
And he urged the Treasury and Home Office to send representatives to a conference he is calling this autumn with the Financial Services Authority in an attempt to devise more efficient anti-money laundering procedures.
McFall spoke out during a questions session after Bexleyheath and Crayforth Tory MP Nigel Beard questioned whether the National Criminal Intelligence Service had adequate resources for dealing with the current volume of suspicious activity reports.
Chief Treasury secretary Paul Boateng said the suspicious activity reporting regime was ‘undoubtedly making a contribution to the increase in prosecutions’ and to intelligence gathering important in combating crime and terrorism.
He said the multi-agency task force set up by home secretary David Blunkett would ensure other criminal justice agencies work with NCIS.
He said the Treasury would attend the conference and he would urge the Home Office to do likewise.