The announced review of the UK’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist finance regime under the Cutting Red Tape programme sends mixed policy messages at a sensitive time. The focus on increasing supervisory effectiveness is the right one, but must be delicately balanced with the need to strengthen the UK’s illicit finance defences, writes Helena Wood, Associate Fellow at the Whitehall-based defence think-tank RUSI (Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies).
It is striking that the review is being led by neither the Treasury (the appointer of AML supervisors) nor the Home Office (the Government’s domestic AML policy lead) but by the Better Regulation Executive, a Government body charged with seeking ways of reducing the burden of regulation on business.
For the full article visit the RUSI website.
