Clause 95 - Money laundering: threshold amounts

Part of Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:45 pm on 13 January 2005.

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Photo of Caroline Flint Caroline Flint Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office) 4:45, 13 January 2005

My understanding, based on consultation, is that that is the case. I shall verify that. Alongside that, the Bill makes provision to ensure, on a case-by-case basis, that NICS has the power to vary the amounts within organisations or institutions. That would apply to mortgage payments, allowing a higher threshold to be set, for example.

Clause 95 gives the Secretary of State the ability to vary the £100 threshold. We are monitoring the situation, but the clause gives us the flexibility to adjust the £100 threshold if we feel that it is appropriate in the light of experience. As I said, the provision already allows NCIS or other law enforcement agencies to set a higher threshold in particular cases. Alternatively, banks can ask for a higher threshold, and the threshold amount can subsequently be varied. The threshold can therefore be different for different transactions—for instance, it can allow for the fact that mortgage payments are usually considerably higher than the other payments that people usually have to make.

Clause 95 allows us to take a few steps forward in an area that everyone agrees is important. We must get the balance right, making sure on the one hand that we do not lose out on important information but on the other hand that we do not end up tying people down too tightly. There are opportunities for variations within the clause. We will continue to review the situation and take advice from all sides about how this is operated and whether it produces the evidence and intelligence that we need to deal with particular activities that may involve crime.