Economic Crime Bill To Strengthen UK's Response To Global Financial Crime

• Law Firm: Weightmans
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Criminal Law, Corporate and Company Law, White Collar Crime, Anti-Corruption & Fraud
• Author: Michael Balmer and James Farrell
• Published date: 01 May 2023

What you need to know about the Economic Crime Bill which is likely to become law in 2024.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill is aimed at improving transparency and accountability in business and tackling economic crimes such as money laundering and fraud. The Bill is undertaking its second reading in the House of Lords and is likely to become law in 2024.

The new measures to be implemented include:

• powers to allow UK Government to move faster when imposing sanctions
• the creation of a Register of Overseas Entities to make it harder for foreign criminals to launder money through UK entities
• strengthening of the UK's unexplained wealth order regime
• additional powers to recover suspected illegal crypto assets held in the UK and overseas
• greater investigatory powers to the Serious Fraud Office.

New offence of failing to prevent fraud

The impact on companies will depend on the specific provisions of the Bill, but the government has also included provisions for a new corporate criminal offence of failing to prevent fraud. It is not yet clear what the scope of this may be, but the introduction of such an offence is likely to result in an increase in criminal investigations and prosecutions against commercial organisations for failing to prevent fraud.

Much like the offence of failing to prevent bribery introduced by the Bribery Act in 2010 and the corporate criminal offence of failing to prevent tax evasion introduced by the Criminal Finances Act 2017, in order to defend a prosecution an organisation will need to demonstrate that reasonable procedures were in place to...