§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what(a) legislative and (b) administrative arrangements need to be made by the United Kingdom Government in order to meet its obligations under the UN Convention Against Corruption; and when the Government intend to ratify the UN Convention. [174003]
§ Mr. MacShaneI have been asked to reply.
Legislation is required to comply fully with the convention's requirements in Article 52, on prevention and detection of transfers of the proceeds of crime; Article 53, on the confiscation and repatriation of assets; and Article 55, on the forfeiture of the instrumentalities of crime.
Primary legislation is required to comply with Article 55. Secondary legislation, under part 11 of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2002, is needed to comply with Article 53.
Secondary legislation will also be required to comply with Article 52. Measures dealing with the requirements of Article 52 are likely to be included in the EU Third Money Laundering Directive. Our current expectation is that negotiations on the directive will be completed by the first part of next year and we would seek to implement it in the UK through secondary legislation, as soon as we reasonably could thereafter.
The Government are also considering what, if any, administrative arrangements need to be made to enable the UK to meet its obligations under the convention.
The Government will seek to implement legislation and other measures at the earliest possible opportunity. We intend to ratify the convention as soon as we are satisfied that the UK can comply fully with its obligations under it.