UK Parliament
Fighting Fraud - House of Lords publishes report - 12 November 2022
The House of Lords Committee on the Fraud Act 2006 and Digital Fraud (the Committee) has published a report of its session titled ‘Fighting Fraud: Breaking the Chain’.
The key conclusions of the report are as follows:
- fraud comprises 41% of all crime against individuals in England and Wales;
- digital technology has led to new opportunities for fraudsters, and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend as people have moved more of their lives online. However, those responsible for these new technologies are not doing enough to prevent the exploitation of their services; and
- while the Fraud Act 2006 (the Act) is comprehensive, there are opportunities for improvement.
The Committee has made a number of recommendations, including:
- the government should establish a cabinet subcommittee with a clear mandate to tackle fraud, which would be chaired by, and accountable to, the Security Minister;
- fraud should be written into the Strategic Policing Requirement, which sets out the top policing priorities. Currently, just 1% of law enforcement is focused on tackling economic crime;
- a new corporate criminal offence of ‘failure to prevent fraud’ should be introduced, applicable across all sectors, which could be accompanied by significant financial penalties; and
- a delay lasting no more than several hours on certain high-risk payments should be introduced, to give banks more time to analyse whether a payment may be fraudulent.
Fraud Act 2006 and Digital Fraud Committee: Fighting Fraud: Breaking the Chain
Enhanced summary
Press release
HM Treasury
AML/CTF - HM Treasury publishes updated advisory notice on high risk third countries - 14 November 2022
HM Treasury has published its updated money laundering advisory notice on high risk third countries. This follows and reflects the Financial Action Task Force’s statements identifying jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) regimes, published in October 2022.
The advisory note lists 26 jurisdictions in relation to which appropriate measures should be taken to minimise the associated AML/CFT risks, including enhanced due diligence in high-risk situations. It now omits Nicaragua and Pakistan given the significant progress in improving their respective AML/CFT regimes. Eight listed jurisdictions are subject to financial sanctions measures, which require firms to take additional measures and include Iran, Mali and the Yemen.
HM Treasury updated guidance: Money Laundering Advisory Notice: High Risk Third Countries
Lending Standards Board
APP scams - Memorandum of Understanding between the LSB and PSR published - 14 November 2022
The Lending Standards Board (LSB) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) recording the framework for their co-operation and communication when working together to provide protection for customers from authorised push payment (APP) scams.
The MoU states that the LSB and the PSR have a mutual regulatory interest in reducing consumer harm caused by APP scams. Their objectives are to:
- improve detection and prevention of APP scams;
- improve protections and outcomes for victims of APP scams, through reimbursement, repatriation and prevention measures;
- determine how further enhancements can be made to the existing protections in place; and
- provide payment system users with greater transparency about the performance of payment system providers in applying the contingent reimbursement model code until any resulting regulation or legislation supersedes it.
LSB and PSR Memorandum of Understanding
Press release
