Failure To Prevent Money Laundering

On 10 June 2022, the Law Commission published its long-awaited options paper on Corporate Criminal Liability ("the Paper").¹ The Paper discussed a "failure to prevent money laundering offence" (the "FTPML Offence"), but did not recommend one.² Although the purpose of the Paper was only to provide options for reform, Transparency International and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax have both criticised the Law Commission for failing to push for the FTPML Offence.³

A study published in February 2022 found that the UK ranked second among OECD countries for the total sum of money laundered on an annual basis, at £87.9 billion, and estimated that it accounts for 4.3% of GDP.⁴ However, given that the misconduct targeted by the FTPML Offence would largely be caught by the UK's existing money laundering regulations ("the MLRs"), it is unlikely that more regulation is the answer to the problem.⁵