In its Economic Crime Levy consultation, published this week, the Treasury proposed a levy based either on a single fixed percentage of revenue or fixed amounts based on revenue bands. The levy, through which the Treasury intends to raise £100m per year from the anti-money laundering regulated sector to fight economic crime, was announced in the March 2020 Budget.
Small businesses among the 90,000 businesses in the sector would be exempt, with three potential annual revenue thresholds under consideration―£1m, £5m and £10.2m. The consultation seeks views on what the levy will pay for, and how it should be calculated and collected.
David Rundle, counsel in WilmerHale’s UK White Collar Defence and Investigations practice, said: ‘The levy rests on the claim that the regulated sector itself stands to benefit directly.
‘Transparency and accountability over how the funds are spent will therefore be critical and will no doubt be a focus of consultation responses.’
Simon Davis, president of the Law Society said: ‘Our sector devotes substantial resources to fighting financial crime.
‘We have strong concerns that a further unjustified burden will fall on a sector already under strain. We will be robustly engaging in the consultation process to ensure the profession’s views are well represented.’
The consultation ends at 12.15am on 14 October 2020. Find out more and take part at: bit.ly/2OT9Tzm.
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