§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the organisations under his control which he will assign to the National Centre for Combating Money Laundering as set out in section B.8 of the Justice and Home Affairs Meeting on 17 October. [136472]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe joint Council of European Union Justice, Finance and Interior Ministers, held in Luxembourg on 17 October, endorsed the need for the fight against money laundering to be conducted on the basis of a multi disciplinary and co-ordinated preventive and repressive approach. The joint Council also concluded that, if this were appropriate, this objective should be achieved in Member States through the creation, or strengthening, of national multi-disciplinary bodies specifically dedicated to the fight against money laundering. The Government are satisfied that in the United Kingdom these objectives are fully met by the Economic Crime Unit of the National Criminal Intelligence Service and that no organisational or other changes will be necessary.