Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has powers to require the SFO to investigate cases of international money laundering.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Home Office does not comment on particular cases.
The SFO is independent, it investigates and prosecutes only the most serious or complex fraud, bribery and corruption cases and is superintended by the Attorney General. The decision to commence an investigation is that of the Director alone. Government cannot interfere with the operational independence of investigative or prosecutorial agencies.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will instruct the Serious Fraud Office to investigate the activities of Mukhtar Ablyazov, in relation to international money laundering.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Home Office does not comment on particular cases.
The SFO is independent, it investigates and prosecutes only the most serious or complex fraud, bribery and corruption cases and is superintended by the Attorney General. The decision to commence an investigation is that of the Director alone. Government cannot interfere with the operational independence of investigative or prosecutorial agencies.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Khazakstani counterpart on the former banker Mukhtar Ablyazov who is accused of murder.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign Secretary has not discussed the case of Mr Ablyazov with the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan. Illicit finance is a global problem and we are committed to working with international partners, particularly through the EU, G7 and G20 to ensure we protect our prosperity and security. As the Prime Minister said in the House of Commons on 14 March 2018, “We will continue to bring all the capabilities of UK law enforcement to bear against serious criminals and corrupt elites. There is no place for these people - or their money - in our country”.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what representations the Serious Fraud Office has received on (a) Sudhir Choudhrie, (b) Bhanu Choudrie and (c) other related parties.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is aware of the allegations made publicly about Sudhir and Bhanu Choudhrie. The SFO can neither confirm nor deny if Sudhir or Bhanu Choudhrie are currently subject to investigation by the SFO, or what, if any, representations the SFO has received about them.
In order to protect the investigative process it is not always possible, or even desirable for investigative bodies to confirm whether or not an individual or organisation is subject to an investigation, or provide any details of matters under investigation.
The SFO proactively publishes information about its cases on its website whenever it is appropriate.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what is the status of (a) SFO and (b) CPS investigations into (i) Sudhir Choudhrie, (ii) Bhanu Choudhrie and (iii) other related parties.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is aware of the allegations made publicly about Sudhir and Bhanu Choudhrie. The SFO can neither confirm nor deny if Sudhir or Bhanu Choudhrie are currently subject to investigation by the SFO, or what, if any, representations the SFO has received about them.
In order to protect the investigative process it is not always possible, or even desirable for investigative bodies to confirm whether or not an individual or organisation is subject to an investigation, or provide any details of matters under investigation.
The SFO proactively publishes information about its cases on its website whenever it is appropriate.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes cases that are referred to it by the police and does not have any investigative function.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision in improving standards in the financial sector.
Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General
The Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) became operational in January 2018. OPBAS is part of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and supervises 22 professional body anti-money laundering (AML) supervisors which oversee the legal and accountancy sectors, as listed in the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. Neither OPBAS, nor the professional body AML supervisors (PBSs) supervise AML activities in the financial sector, which is instead supervised by the FCA. Fighting financial crime is a key priority for the FCA.
OPBAS’s key objectives are to reduce the harm of money laundering and terrorist financing by:
ensuring a robust and consistently high standard of supervision by the PBSs overseeing the legal and accountancy sectors;
facilitating collaboration, and information and intelligence sharing between PBSs, statutory supervisors, and law enforcement agencies.
The recent Financial Action Task Force (FATF) review of the UK’s AML regime recommended that the UK should closely monitor the impact of OPBAS in undertaking its work.
By the end of 2018, OPBAS will have completed its initial supervisory assessments of all PBSs. The Government will continue to work closely with OPBAS to ensure that its plans and activities are effective and risk-based.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals in relation to access rights to grandchildren by grandparents; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Government is keen to take steps wherever possible to reduce conflict within families when relationships come to an end. In that context, the Government’s current priority is to reform the law on the process for obtaining a divorce.
I am separately considering what measures Government could take to help more grandchildren maintain contact with grandparents following parental separation and will make an announcement about the Government’s plans in due course.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the Government will commit to the full disclosure of the beneficiaries of offshore trusts.
Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General
Overseas trusts that incur a UK tax consequence are already required to register full details of their beneficial ownership with HMRC, ensuring law enforcement can access this information.
The Fifth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) requires an expansion of the scope of the UK’s register from ‘trusts with a tax consequence’ to all UK express trusts and non-EU trusts which acquire UK real estate or have a business relationship with a UK regulated entity. Access to this register will also be extended to firms regulated for anti-money laundering purposes, and those persons with a ‘legitimate interest’ in the information. The Government will consult on the transposition of this change in due course. 5AMLD has a transposition deadline during January 2020. This falls within the implementation period, and so the UK will transpose this Directive.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the expected contribution to the public purse of the proposed sale of the Government's stake in RBS.
Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General
At Budget 2018 Government announced an intention to undertake a full disposal of its Royal Bank of Scotland shareholding by 2023-24.
In its Economic and Fiscal Outlook (https://cdn.obr.uk/EFO_October-2018.pdf), the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast the total value of expected proceeds from sales of the RBS shareholding (paragraph 4.208). The OBR also estimate the gross and net cash flows of the financial sector interventions (table 4.44), noting that ‘the economic and fiscal costs of the [financial] crisis would almost certainly have been greater in the absence of these direct interventions to restore the financial system to stability’.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the likelihood of recouping the cost to the public purse of the bailout of the Royal Bank of Scotland by planned sale of shares by 2023-24.
Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General
At Budget 2018 Government announced an intention to undertake a full disposal of its Royal Bank of Scotland shareholding by 2023-24.
In its Economic and Fiscal Outlook (https://cdn.obr.uk/EFO_October-2018.pdf), the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast the total value of expected proceeds from sales of the RBS shareholding (paragraph 4.208). The OBR also estimate the gross and net cash flows of the financial sector interventions (table 4.44), noting that ‘the economic and fiscal costs of the [financial] crisis would almost certainly have been greater in the absence of these direct interventions to restore the financial system to stability’.