MP: Amendments would have toughened up the legislation
There were votes today in the Commons on Lords Amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. The legislation contains measures to bear down on abuse of Britain’s financial system by kleptocrats, criminals and terrorists. However, John Baron MP backed stronger measures, and this afternoon voted to retain Lords Amendments 151B and 151C. These were tabled by Lord Garnier, and would have ensured that only micro-businesses were exempted from the new offence of ‘failing to prevent fraud’. The Government did not accept the amendments, and they were removed by 276 votes to 210.
John said,
“Britain is rightly proud of our open financial system, but it is a fact that this openness can be abused by those who are up to no good. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sharpened awareness of the role our financial system plays in laundering dirty money, and the Government should be commended for taking positive steps in this Bill to crack down on this.”
“However, I believe there was scope to go further, so throughout the Bill’s progress have been supportive of tougher measures. Rejecting the amendments today means that all SMEs will be exempted from the new offence of ‘failing to prevent fraud’. SMEs account for over 99% of all companies, so this will still leave open the potential for bad actors to use these type of companies to their advantage.”
Notes to Editors:
- A micro-business is one which has any two of the following: 1) a turnover of £632,000 or less, 2) £316,000 or less on its balance sheet, 3) 10 employees or fewer.
