Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Britain Launches Campaign against Crime, Terrorism Financing | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A woman ducks under a police tape after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017 (Picture: Reuters)


London – Britain is set to put forward new regulations on Monday against the financing of crime and terrorism, and would require banks, estate agents, financial institutions and accountants to increase inspection operations on financial transactions.

The government said that although the concerned companies and institutions were very vigilant, the new regulations would further improve the quality of inspection operations to guarantee the tracking and reporting of suspicious transactions.

UK Economic Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay said the Government was “cracking down on terrorists and criminals funneling money through our financial system”.

“Terrorist financing and money laundering are a significant threat to our national security, and we are determined to make the UK a hostile environment for illicit finance,” Barclay said on Sunday.

“These new rules will tighten our defenses, protect the integrity of our financial system and help protect the British public from terror attacks and criminal activities,” he added.

Britain has suffered a series of attacks in recent months, with 35 people killed by extremists in London and Manchester, while a man killed one and injured several others when he drove a van into Muslim worshippers leaving a London mosque.

Those attacks have increased pressure on British Prime Minister Theresa May whose popularity has severely dropped in the wake of her political party’s weak performance in the parliamentary elections.

The Sunday Times quoted some leading members of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party as saying that they wanted Chancellor Philip Hammond to become prime minister, replacing May.

Citing some members of May’s top team, the Sunday Times said Hammond should be appointed as a caretaker prime minister to lead the government until 2019, when Britain officially leaves the European Union.

Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, was sidelined for months by the British premier during the election campaign. He had been widely expected to be fired after the vote. However, the Conservative Party’s poor election results have pushed him back into the spotlight.