Record numbers of suspicious activity reports are being made in a bid to tackle money laundering, but Syedur Rahman of financial crime specialists Rahman Ravelli argues bigger numbers cannot hide system’s shortcomings
With the publication of the 2020 Suspicious Activity Report (SARs) Annual Report comes a chance to take stock and assess the adequacy of the UK’s approach to tackling money laundering.
The report, which is now on the National Crime Agency (NCA) website, says that the UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU) saw another record year for the number of SARs. A total of 573,085 were received and processed – an increase of a fifth on the previous year – while there was an 81% increase in requests for a defence against money laundering or terrorist finance.
As is to be expected, the UKFIU was able to help law enforcement agencies act on asset recovery opportunities as a result of Defence Against Money Laundering (DAML) requests. DAML requests are cited as being the reason why a total of £172m was denied to those suspected of criminality in the past year. This is arguably the main positive factor to be taken from the report, as that figure is a 31% rise on the previous year’s total of £132m, and more than three times the 2017-18 total of £52m.
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