Concerns money laundering could increase in rush to secure post-Brexit trade deals

UK currency – new lb50 notes – 'drying' on a washing line on the Summer's day. Symbolising money laundering.

The Treasury Committee has warned that the UK must control money laundering and that is may even increase post-Brexit. The Committee figured efforts to battle money laundering in the UK is “highly fragmented.” at the moment.

They urged the government not to ignore the seriousness of economic crime in a hurry to secure new trade deal in the post-Brexit political environment. Committee chair Nicky Morgan said government should not “bow to buccaneering regulatory pressures”

The Treasury Committee is worried that increasing economic partnerships with non-EU countries means it is more probably that they will enter markets that could have a lax method of money laundering.

It said: “When conducting trade negotiations, the federal government should be clear about its intention to guide the fight against economic crime, and never compromise by shifting to a more buccaneering role in an effort to secure trade deals.”

“The federal government should also be sure that the flow of information between the EU and UK’s enforcement agencies is retained or replicated post-Brexit.”

The committee said the scale of economic crime in the UK was “very uncertain, with estimates which range from the many vast amounts of pounds to the hundreds of billions”.

“The government ought to provide a far more precise estimate, so the response could be tailored to the problem.”

The National Crime Agency estimates that lb100bn of dirty money is laundered with the Town of London each year.