Contributions
1,648 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Thank you for coming to give evidence. Does the Bill go far enough in reducing the attractiveness of the UK as a destination for economic crime? You obviously have an…27 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Fourth sitting)Q On the attractiveness of the UK, you have mentioned enforcement, but from your research in this area, what would you highlight as being the weakest points in enforcement?…27 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Third sitting)Q I have a couple of specific questions. First, do you think there should be any sort of limit on the number of companies or partnerships registered at one address? Secondly,…27 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Third sitting)Q This is just a quick follow-up for clarification. The Bill arguably makes shareholder information less transparent, because it takes away the opportunity to put information…27 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Third sitting)On the proposal in the Bill—27 Oct 2022HANSARDSMEs: Red TapeIn recent weeks, having crashed the economy, the Conservatives have increased the barriers facing small firms, with spiralling costs making it harder than ever to do business.…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (First sitting)Q It is good to have you here, Mr Kirby. Could you give us a little flavour of the kinds of trends and patterns of economic crime that you are seeing? How are criminals behaving?…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (First sitting)Q A fifth bank domestically or internationally? Nigel Kirby: It was, at that particular point, a UK domestic bank, yes. We have this sort of complexity of companies that are…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (First sitting)Q That is extremely helpful. To follow up, will the measures in the Bill go far enough to enable the critical data sharing and the ability to inform other banks of what you think…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q No, it was to ask whether, unless we perhaps look at making other sectors regulated, you would expect kleptocrats who are abusing our economy to just move their assets in the…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (First sitting)Q Sorry, what is the omission? Nigel Kirby: The omission was referred to by Nick Van Benschoten: the civil liability protection. In the UK, we have real trust and confidence built…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (First sitting)It is more about Companies House automatic strike-off—but they might be your customers.25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (First sitting)Q I have a question about automatic strike-off procedures for companies that may have bank accounts with you and where that company may have been involved in economic crime and…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (First sitting)Q I want to follow up on what you were saying about how you can follow the flows, but you do not always know who is sending and who is receiving. I want to understand a bit more…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (First sitting)Q What are the consequences for them if they do that? Andy Gould: I think the FCA has prosecution powers and enforcement and regulatory options, but I could not say what it is…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (First sitting)Q What more could be done about that? Arianna Trozze: In my view, the only thing would be more enforcement efforts against non-compliant companies. I do not know how practical…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you for coming to give evidence to us. I have two questions for the panel. First, we have heard about weaknesses in the UK’s anti-money laundering supervisory system. I…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q Coming back to law enforcement, the Bar Council has suggested that the new regulatory objective that the Bill will add to the Legal Services Act 2007, focused on promoting the…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q I want to come back to some of what we have heard about Companies House. It feels as if quite a lot of the new functions might be outsourced in different ways. Mr Townsend, you…25 Oct 2022HANSARDEconomic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (Second sitting)Q I want to come back to asset recovery. There is a question about automatic strike-offs by Companies House. Would any reforms to those procedures—for example, for companies that…25 Oct 2022