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UK Govt publishes Policy Paper on its Counter Fraud Functional Strategy 2024-2027

March 26, 2024

Driven by five strategic objectives, the Counter Fraud strategy aims to enhance the UK’s position as a global leader in combating public sector fraud, focusing on innovation, ethical practices, and collaboration include Developing our people – enhancing the Counter Fraud Profession with a focus on skills development, recruitment…

UK Govt publishes Guidance on the ‘Introduction to AI Guide with a focus on Counter Fraud’

March 26, 2024

Generative AI (GenAI) uses data and files online to create results that appear authentic to the audience, and these can include those created in the form of “language models”. Language models are based on vast amounts of data, and they learn from these to generate outputs…

Specialist CPS team involved in UK’s largest Bitcoin wallets seizure, with an initial estimated value in excess of £2 billion

March 20, 2024

A Metropolitan Police investigation resulted in the CPS seizure of Bitcoin wallets from Wen, with an initial estimated value in excess of £2 billion. Prosecutors told the court the sheer scale of the seized Bitcoin, the lack of any legitimate evidence for how it was acquired and its connection to a massive investment fraud in China, all indicated that it was criminal property…

HM Treasury proposes expanding its money laundering regulations to capture a broader range of digital asset activities, including non-fungible token (NFT) issuance

March 20, 2024

The new rules will require businesses dealing with NFTs to conduct customer due diligence and report suspicious activities to the authorities. The move aims to bring NFTs under the same AML regulations as other digital assets like cryptocurrencies. This decision comes as NFTs have gained popularity and value in recent years, leading to concerns about their potential use in illicit activities…

FCO publishes post-legislative scrutiny memorandum on the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018

March 19, 2024

Provides an assessment of the functioning of SAMLA and UK sanctions regimes underpinned by SAMLA, following the UK’s introduction of an autonomous sanctions framework post-Brexit.

FCA publishes its Business Plan 2024/25 highlighting some of the challenges to the UK’s economic and geopolitical landscape

March 19, 2024

FCA publishes the Business Plan 2024/25 highlighting some of the challenges to the UK’s economic and geopolitical landscape. The areas of focus will include protecting consumers, ensuring market integrity, promoting effective competition, embedding our secondary objective to facilitate international competitiveness of the UK economy…

FCA successfully convicts a money launderer who violated regulations by operating an unauthorised investment scheme

March 15, 2024

From 2008 to 2011, Mr Walker helped to source land and undertook conveyancing, registration and consultancy services for plots of land being sold as part of an unauthorised collective investment scheme. This scheme ultimately defrauded consumers of over £4.25 million; on occasions Mr Walker even received monies from investors into his solicitor’s client account.

UK Govt unveils draft law that would require banks to give customers a 3-months notice period and a detailed explanation before de-banking

March 15, 2024

The legislative move comes months after NatWest’s CEO stepped down in the wake of allegations that a former Brexit Party leader was “de-banked” over his political views…

UK Govt considers softening AML regulations to support fintech innovation

March 14, 2024

The proposed changes aim to strike a balance between preventing financial crimes and promoting technological advancements. The new rules could include allowing simplified customer due diligence processes for low-risk transactions and utilizing digital identification methods. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also exploring the potential use of biometric technology for identity verification.

HSF releases ‘The Fraud Files podcast series’ – decoding the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023

March 12, 2024

The Fraud Files: Decoding the Economic Crime Act breaks down everything listeners need to know about the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, its impact on corporate criminal liability, and the new offence of failure to prevent fraud…

FCA sends ‘Dear CEO letter’ to Annex 1 firms to complete a financial crime gap analysis over ML failings

March 11, 2024

The FCA is asking Annex 1 Firms to carry out a gap analysis against the failings it has identified in the market, and to take immediate steps to close any identified gaps, with the implication being that the FCA will carry out further reviews to assess how firms have performed in this regard….

HM Treasury issues policy paper on The Payment Services (Amendment) Regulations 2024 to slow payment processing in response to fraud concerns