(24 March 2020 – United Kingdom) The United Kingdom’s (UK) chancellor Rishi Sunak’s has announced an anti-money laundering (AML) levy on all firms that operate within the UK’s regulated sectors.
The move is aimed as one of the few measures designed to fund the fight against cyber-crime. A total of GBP£100 billion is expected to be raised as a result of this levy which will predominantly be spent on new technology for law enforcement and for hiring more financial investigators.
Robert Amaee, who previously served as the Head of Anti-Corruption, Proceeds of Crime and International Assistance at the Serious Fraud Office stated that “More funding to combat financial crime is certainly to be welcomed, but much will depend on the details of this proposal; such as who will pay the levy, how much it will raise, what exactly it will fund, and whether it will be additional to existing funds or intended as a replacement”.