Clause 95 - Money laundering: threshold amounts
Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill
4:45 pm
Ms Caroline Flint (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (reducing organised and international crime, anti drugs co-ordination and international and European issues), Home Office; Don Valley, Labour)
As I said earlier, we understand the difficulties caused by the present arrangements. Based on a strict interpretation of the law, a bank would need to make a separate disclosure to NCIS, or seek consent from it, before processing any transaction in such cases. I believe that the provisions in clause 95 take us some steps forward by recognising what is necessary in those different circumstances.
As I understand it, the £100 threshold was based on advice from NCIS, which is obviously the service that deals with organised crime. The financial crime unit is part of that organisation, which will transfer to SOCA once it is established.