Anti-money laundering strategy a ‘turning point’ in tackling dirty money, says UK government

The UK government has presented its Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy 2026-2029 as a turning point in the fight against illicit finance. Published on 15 September, the 101-page strategy carries a foreword from security minister Dan Jarvis and economic secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby, who say they want the UK to be a hostile environment for dirty money. The National Crime Agency (NCA) puts the amount laundered through the UK or UK corporate structures at more than £100bn a year.

At least £550m backs the plan: £520m from the Economic Crime Levy paid by firms supervised under the money laundering regulations, and £30m from a high streets package announced at Budget 2025. The strategy is organised around three pillars, Target, Integrate and Empower. By 2029 ministers want to see more assets recovered, including cryptoassets seized across borders, more accurate and searchable ownership data, and wider use of AI and analytics.

Headline commitments include 500 new officers and specialists across police forces, the NCA and the Crown Prosecution Service, reform of anti-money laundering supervision, and a new National Financial Intelligence Service. The service will sit within the National Economic Crime Centre at the NCA, combine public and private financial intelligence, bring together Data Fusion and the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce, and extend partnership working beyond banks to crypto firms, money service businesses and e-money institutions. The UK Financial Intelligence Unit is also to be strengthened.

The strategy sits alongside the Fraud Strategy 2026-2029 and the UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025 within the Economic Crime Plan 2026-29. Reaction was broadly supportive: the NCA’s Sal Melki described a systemic shift in approach and the FCA’s Steve Smart welcomed supervisory reform, while RUSI’s Veronica Stratford-Tuke cautioned that progress on paper is not the same as keeping dirty money out, pointing to gaps in public-private partnership, resourcing and supervisory reform.

Article Credit: https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/uk-anti-money-laundering-strategy/