Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans the Government has for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to take steps to help strengthen rules to prevent the movement of money from corruption (a) leaving and (b) entering developing countries.

The UK is at the forefront of efforts to prevent the proceeds of corruption from developing countries being laundered or transferred overseas. The Government supports developing countries to improve rules and capabilities directly through a range of regional and in-country programming, such as the Countering Illicit Financial Flows Programme in Southern Africa. The UK also supports highly respected global programmes that seek to help developing countries implement international standards, such as the International Centre for Asset Recovery based in Basel and the World Bank-UNODC Stolen Asset Recovery (STAR) Fund. And, through its wider international engagement, the UK influences the evolution of global rules and norms, for example championing the adoption of beneficial ownership transparency standards.

The Government's future plans for tackling the proceeds of corruption from developing countries will be based on existing strategies such as the UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2017-2022 and the National Economic Crime Plan 2019-2022, as well as the priorities set in the ongoing Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy and subsequent Spending Review.