Legal News

The director general of the National Crime Agency (NCA) Kevin Bristow has said that UK banks must end illegal banking activities such as money laundering and financial fraud, as the crimes could pose a risk to UK national security.

The Evening Standard newspaper reports that Mr Bristow warned that “many hundreds of billions of pounds of criminal assets” are passing through UK financial institutions – and the NCA has agreed a landmark information-sharing deal with ten UK banks to tackle the issues.

Mr Bristow added that the practice of money laundering could not only damage the UK’s reputation, but could also trigger a fall in City tax revenue.

HSBC is currently to focus of controversy over revelations the bank helped wealthy clients avoid tax by directing funds through the bank’s Swiss investment arm. Leading public figures and politicians are thought to be among HSBC clients who benefited.

Tax avoidance is not a crime in the UK, but tax evasion is.

However, under the deal between the NCA and banking institutions, details of accounts where there is suspicious activity such as possible money laundering will be passed to the NCA to investigate.

Investment banking has previously been subject to a cloak of secrecy, with banks refusing to pass on clients’ details to the police without a court order.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Mr Bristow said:

“We need the evidence to investigate people and bring them to justice. We have an interest as an agency in the reputation of the UK. It’s a national security risk.

“Given how much our economy depends on financial services in this country, we can ill afford the reputation of those institutions to be damaged – or for those institutions to lose their licences to operate because of criminals exploiting their services.”

The information-sharing pact between the NCA and ten of the UK’s banks is covered by Section 7 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which gives banks and financial institutions the right to disclose details of suspicious activity to the NCA.

The deal to make banking more transparent and enable banks to report suspicious activity on client accounts was struck last year at a meeting between Home Secretary Theresa May and the NCA, with British Bankers’ Association and The Financial Conduct Authority.

Customers found innocent of any allegations or suspicions of money laundering or other financial crimes will be cleared of any charges under the Crime and Courts Act 2013.

The Act gives banks the authority to disclose to agencies such as the NCA financial activities which may also be linked to drugs offences, people trafficking, cyber-crime and other types of serious crime.

Duncan Lewis Fraud Lawyers

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of specialist fraud lawyers and can advise at any stage f a charge involving financial fraud such as money laundering – and serious financial crimes linked to drugs offences or cyber-crime.

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of Legal Aid fraud lawyers – and can also advise on confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act once a conviction for financial fraud has been obtained in court.

For expert legal advice on financial fraud charges, call Duncan Lewis Fraud Lawyers on 020 7923 4020.

For out-of-hours legal advice on financial fraud charges, call the Duncan Lewis Out-of-Hours Crime Lawyers Hotline on 07920 077057.