London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jun 20, 2025

FinCEN Files sparks fresh UK inquiry into laundering of dirty billions

FinCEN Files sparks fresh UK inquiry into laundering of dirty billions

Prompted by the FinCEN Files, a powerful U.K. parliamentary committee has launched a fresh anti-money laundering inquiry 19-months after it outlined findings that the nation’s response to billions of pounds in money-laundering was “fragmented.”

In light of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ recent investigation, the U.K. Treasury Committee says it will examine the effectiveness of both anti-money laundering systems and sanctions.

The Treasury Committee says the precise scale of the problem is uncertain, with estimates ranging from tens of billions of pounds to hundreds of billions of pounds.

The committee listed specific concerns as:

* The work of the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision, or OPBAS

* The impact of the “FinCEN papers”

* Corporate liability for economic crime

* The work of Companies House, the U.K.’s registrar of companies

Based on thousands of secret documents obtained by BuzzFeed News, the FinCEN Files investigation revealed how giants of Western banking enriched themselves while facilitating the movement of money for oligarchs, terrorists, drug traffickers and fraudsters.

The documents, secretly sent by banks to a unit of the United States Treasury Department called the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, detail suspect money flows of more than $2 trillion between 1999 and 2017.

The global investigation spotlighted the behavior of some of Britain’s leading banks, including Standard Chartered, HSBC and Barclays. It also identified thousands of U.K. shell companies linked to suspicious transactions.

Reacting to the revelations in their immediate aftermath, the head of the U.K. Treasury Committee, Tory Member of Parliament Mel Stride, said he was “deeply troubled” by the revelations and had raised them with Britain’s tax collection agency known as HMRC, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Home Office.

“The Treasury Committee wants to know whether Ministers, HMRC and the FCA are on top of this,” said Stride, who served in the Theresa May government as the financial secretary to the treasury.

Stride said the new inquiry would “review what progress has been made in combating economic crime” since a previous inquiry held during the term of the last U.K. Parliament.

“The current Committee will now examine what progress supervisors, law enforcement and the Government has made in these areas,” Stride said in a statement.

“It’s important that the relevant bodies are held to account and scrutinised effectively to ensure that the UK is a clean place to do business and that consumers are protected from economic crime.”

The previous Treasury Committee inquiry’s report, published in March 2019, outlined the scale of the threat posed by money laundering and criticized the “fragmented approach” to it.

The report said, “Looking first at published documents, the National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime 2018 suggested that the scale of money laundering impacting the UK annually could be in the hundreds of billions of pounds, whereas in its Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, the Government put it in the tens of billions of pounds.”

The Treasury Committee said the U.K.’s system to prevent money laundering was “highly fragmented”, with 25 separate organizations supervising the checks, many of them trade groups for accountants and solicitors.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
UK Home Secretary Apologizes Over Child Grooming Failures
Trump Organization Launches 5G Mobile Network and Golden Handset
Towcester Hosts 2025 English Greyhound Derby Amid Industry Scrutiny
Gary Oldman and David Beckham Knighted in King's Birthday Honours
Over 30,000 Lightning Strikes Recorded Across UK During Overnight Storms
Princess of Wales Returns to Public Duties at Trooping the Colour
Red Arrows Use Sustainable Fuel in Historic Trooping the Colour Flypast
Former Welsh First Minister Addresses Unionist Concerns Over Irish Language
Iran Signals Openness to Nuclear Negotiations Amid Ongoing Regional Tensions
France Bars Israeli Arms Companies from Paris Defense Expo
King Charles Leads Tribute to Air India Crash Victims at Trooping the Colour
Jack Pitchford Embarks on 200-Mile Walk to Support Stem Cell Charity
Surrey Hikers Take on Challenge of Climbing 11 Peaks in a Single Day
UK Deploys RAF Jets to Middle East Amid Israel-Iran Tensions
Two Skydivers Die in 'Tragic Accident' at Devon Airfield
Sainsbury's and Morrisons Accused of Displaying Prohibited Tobacco Ads
UK Launches National Inquiry into Grooming Gangs
Families Seek Closure After Air India Crash
Gold Emerges as Global Safe Haven Amid Uncertainty
Trump Reports $57 Million Earnings from Crypto Venture
Trump's Military Parade Sparks Concerns Over Authoritarianism
Nationwide 'No Kings' Protests Challenge Trump's Leadership
UK Deploys Jets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions
Trump's Anti-War Stance Tested Amid Israel-Iran Conflict
Germany Holds First Veterans Celebration Since WWII
U.S. Health Secretary Dismisses CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Overthrow of Khamenei Regime
×