Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what measures (a) the Government, (b) law enforcement agencies and (c) financial regulators have put in place to ensure that unregulated payments are not being used for money laundering.

The UK has a comprehensive anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) regime and we are committed to ensuring our financial system is a hostile environment for illicit finances.

The international AML/CTF standards, set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), form the basis of EU legislation, which is incorporated into various pieces of UK law, predominantly the Money Laundering Regulations (2007). There are over 150,000 businesses regulated under the Money Laundering Regulations. This includes financial institutions, lawyers, accountants, casinos and high value dealers.

Virtual currencies are not currently regulated in the UK for AML purposes, but the UK announced at the March 2015 Budget the intention to bring virtual currency exchanges into the scope of AML/CTF regulations and this is taking place as part of the 4^th Money Laundering Directive (4MLD).

Our law enforcement agencies investigate money laundering regardless of the payment methods used. The Action Plan for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist finance, published in April 2016, set out how the Government will strengthen the law enforcement response to money laundering, including through the creation of tough new powers. The Criminal Finances Bill, currently before Parliament, will deliver this commitment.