Criminal Finances Act 2017

Overview of the Act

Reproduced verbatim from the Explanatory Notes published with the Act on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Explanatory Notes are prepared by the responsible government department and are not part of the Act.

The Criminal Finances Act 2017 makes the legislative changes necessary to give law enforcement agencies and partners new capabilities and powers to recover the proceeds of crime, and to tackle money laundering, corruption and terrorist financing.

The measures in the Act aim to: improve cooperation between public and private sectors; enhance the UK law enforcement response; improve our capability to recover the proceeds of crime, including international corruption; and combat the financing of terrorism.

Financial profit is the driver for almost all serious and organised crime, and other lower-level acquisitive crime. The best available estimate of the amounts laundered globally are equivalent to 2.7% of global GDP, or US$1.6 trillion in 2009, while the National Crime Agency (NCA) assesses that billions of pounds of proceeds of international corruption are laundered into, or through the UK. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimate that over £4.4bn was lost to attacks against the tax system in 2013/14. The UK’s drug trade is estimated to generate revenues of nearly £4bn each year. The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy 2013 and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (SDSR) set a goal of working with the private sector to make the UK a more hostile place for those seeking to move, hide or use the proceeds of crime or corruption. The Criminal Finances Act is a part of achieving that objective.

Part 1 deals with the proceeds of crime, money laundering, civil recovery, enforcement powers and related offences and creates a range of new powers for law enforcement agencies to request information and seize monies stored in bank accounts and mobile stores of value.