"Q Duncan, I think I heard you say that UK corporate structures were the structure of choice for money laundering in what was the biggest money laundering scandal in Europe. That chimes with a piece of work you put out on 10 October, which said that there are more …..." Liam Byrne - View Speech
Duncan Hames: Doesn’t. What I said earlier was that if you use an offshore entity to hold UK property, as a result of legislation MPs passed this year you now have to register on the register of overseas entities who the beneficial owner of …..." Liam Byrne - View Speech
"Q 213 Thank you, Ms Bardell. Starting with you, Angela—thank you so much for coming to give evidence. First, what are the perceptions around the world of London, in particular, as a centre for money laundering? How serious a problem do people abroad think that we have here?
"Q You used the word inevitable in your answer. Is it inevitable that there will be lots of dirty money on the scale we have flying through London today?
Angela Foyle: I think what I meant by that is that it is inevitable that you will have some illicit …..." Liam Byrne - View Speech
"Thank you—that is well put. Mike, what is your view on that?
Mike Miller: I agree with Angela. London is such a large financial centre and there is such a volume of money moving through it that there inevitably will be, as Angela said, some money that is not well …..." Liam Byrne - View Speech
"Q Angela, we heard evidence on Tuesday from UK Finance that it was concerned that the verification regime proposed in the Bill is much weaker than the regime used across the AML regulated sector. What is your view on that? Are you worried that a two-tier verification regime is …..." Liam Byrne - View Speech
"Q Do you think that is a weakness in the Bill that we should think about strengthening?
Angela Foyle: Around verification, yes. There is a spectrum, however. Requiring that someone has to verify, that is, prove, that that is true goes beyond what is possible for an accountant. I …..." Liam Byrne - View Speech
"Q That is very useful. Finally, the folks from Lloyds bank, and others, described how easy it is to move money through a network of banks and then consolidate it into a final bank, from which bad people may take their money out. We were worried about the way …..." Liam Byrne - View Speech