Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to empower regulators and law enforcement agencies to prevent and detect the laundering of corrupt assets through the UK financial system.

In April, we launched the Action Plan for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist finance, to address the gaps identified in the National Risk Assessment, and to make significant changes to improve our response to threats.

The Action Plan will reform the supervisory regime so that the high anti-money laundering standards and controls that the UK subscribes to are implemented successfully.

It also commits us to establish an enhanced law enforcement response to the threats we face through building new capabilities in law enforcement agencies and exploring tough new legal powers to enable the relentless disruption and prosecution of criminals and terrorists.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister’s Anti-Corruption Summit in May launched a number of new initiatives to address illicit financial flows and give momentum to existing projects.