Criminal Finances Act 2017
Page 21
CHAPTER 3
Money laundering and information sharing
Introduction
3.1 As financial transactions and investment opportunities become more sophisticated, so too do money laundering schemes. National boundaries are ignored and financial institutions and professional advisers from around the world may be drawn in. For the Financial Action Task Force, the peak inter-governmental body charged with setting policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, information sharing is critical. Its 2017 Guidance on Private Sector Information Sharing considers fast and comprehensive information sharing from a wide variety of sources to be necessary at the national level and also globally, both within corporate groups and between regulated persons not part of the same structure. 3.2 The development of public/private anti-money laundering partnerships is on the rise. In 2015, the Home Office conducted a review of the suspicious activity report (SAR) regime and concluded thatthe most effective way for the UK to improve its response to the threat from money laundering and terrorist finance is through stronger partnership working between the public and private sectors, and through jointly identifying and tackling those entities – individuals, companies and others – that pose the highest risk.1