On 20th May 2024, the Joffe Trust reconvened participants from our 2023 Wilton Park conference “Driving Dirty Money out of the UK” to discuss progress over the last 12 months.
This unique cross-sector group includes government, business, law enforcement, regulators, academia and civil society. Our collegiate approach encourages everyone to find better ways to tackle economic crime together.
Participants felt that strong progress has been made in implementing Economic Crime Plan 2 (2023-26) to date. Highlights include: Companies House reform, the new “Suspicious Activity Report” service, strengthening Britain’s sanctions regimes and the Global Fraud Summit. Strong multi-sector involvement had helped drive progress.
Looking ahead, more can be done to boost the enforcement effort (including through more capacity and better pay structures). The system as a whole would benefit from clearer leadership and priorities. There is a great deal of interest in how the new Data Strategy takes shape. And it was striking that while domestic fraud is falling, the public believes the problem is getting worse. There is more to be done around the wider narrative.
There is lively interest in the 2027/28 FATF mutual evaluation of the UK, which will be so important for our international reputation. Official preparations are under way, and there is interest across sectors about how to make the most of this opportunity.
The group discussed a variety of specific initiatives in these and related areas. At the Joffe Trust, we have identified demand in three areas for our cross-sector convening:
- A roundtable in Q3 this year on the FATF mutual evaluation process,
- A roundtable in Q4 this year on boosting enforcement actions,
- Potentially repeating an in-person conference in the first half of 2025, to strengthen cross-sector collaboration and discuss the next opportunities for progress.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch to find out more.
Photo by Erin Brown-John