Clause 95 - Money laundering: threshold amounts
Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Dominic Grieve (Shadow Attorney General, Home Affairs; Beaconsfield, Conservative)
This part of clause 95 concerns threshold amounts. Sensibly, the Government have taken the view that there should be a de minimis provision in respect of the duty to make a disclosure. In those circumstances, we are told:
''The threshold amount for acts done by a deposit-taking body in operating an account is £100 unless a higher amount is specified under the following provisions of this section (in which event it is that higher amount).''
The Committee will see that the amendments offer some alternatives to £100—£500, £1,000, £250 and £5,000. While there is a probing aspect to those alternatives, £100 is a small amount, and I am bound to say that if the provision is going to be that low, that might be a compelling reason to say that every penny has to be accounted for and disclosed by the accounting bank. However, if we are going to have a real de minimis provision, accepting that some transactions will slip through, but aiming to lessen the burden on deposit-taking bodies and, I suspect, on those to whom the reports are to be made, £500 or £1,000 might be more appropriate, even if 5,000 is probably too high.
I hope that the Minister will also take the opportunity to explain what is meant by the
''higher amount . . . specified under the following provisions of this section''
and the circumstances in which higher amounts will be deemed appropriate.