§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many financial services companies in the FTSE All-Share list of companies have reported suspected cases of money laundering in each of the last five years; and what estimate has been made of the sums involved. [146149]
§ Caroline FlintI have been asked to reply.
Companies suspecting money laundering activity are under various legal obligations to report this to the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS). The information provided is used by law enforcement agencies in fighting crime, including through locating the proceeds of crime with a view to confiscation.
NCIS does not break down reports by reference to whether the reporting institution is listed on the FTSE All-Share list. Since 1999 303 companies in the banking, insurance/life assurance, and securities/investment sectors made reports. The number of reports received was:
Banks Insurance/Assurance Securities Finance Investment Totals 1999 7,223 522 108 7,853 2000 10,802 579 160 11,541 2001 18,776 795 215 19,786 2002 37,041 1,011 262 38,314 2003 63,997 1,109 274 65,380 Total 137,839 4,016 1,019 142,874 The growth in reporting is believed to result mainly from the impact of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, an increased regulatory focus on money laundering (in particular relating to the Financial Services Authority's statutory responsibilities), and greater awareness of the issues in the light of the tragic events of 11 September 2001.
NCIS does not keep estimates of the sums involved in the reports received, as although some reports will relate to a specific financial transaction or transactions others 513W will not involve transactions at all. To illustrate the scale of the sums involved in money laundering, the most recent estimate of the amount laundered annually in the UK is £25 billion.