Obiter J blog reports
On Monday 7 March 2022, the lengthy, complex and important Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill was banged through the House of Commons. The Bill is part of the government’s response to Russian military action in Ukraine.The Bill contains 55 clauses divided into 4 Parts – Part 1 (Registration of Overseas Entities), Part 2 (Unexplained Wealth Orders), Part 3 (Sanctions), Part 4 (General). There are also 5 detailed Schedules.
As the Institute for Government points out in an excellent overview, the Bill has been a long time coming and does not go far enough – Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill | The Institute for Government
Prior to late February 2022, the government seemed to be in no great hurry to bring the legislation forward. The appearance was
that of a can being kicked down the road. The result of the sudden rush to legislate is that the Bill is receiving far less parliamentary scrutiny than is required by the difficulties of the issues the Bill seeks to address.Even when the Bill finally gets to the statute book, there are enforcement problems arising from the under-resourcing of practically every agency involved – e.g. National Crime Agency, Companies House etc.
The proceedings in the House of Commons on Monday 7 March may be read at Hansard – Second Reading and Further stages. The exasperation of some MPs with the Bill was clear and several problems were highlighted.
Here are just two extracts from the debates …..
Read on at
https://obiterj.blogspot.com/2022/03/conflict-in-ukraine-6-economic-crime.html
