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09 March 2018 / David Bloom
Issue: 7784 / Categories: Features , Criminal
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Unexplained Wealth Orders. Explained

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David Bloom considers UWOs—the newest enforcement measure introduced to tackle money laundering & economic crime

  • Conditions for issuing an order.
  • Consequences of non-compliance

Since 31st January 2018, the enforcement authorities in England and Wales have been empowered with a new investigative tool to tackle money laundering and economic crime: Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs). These widely-trailed measures have been billed as having the potential to redefine the asset recovery regime. However, scrutiny of the statutory framework suggests limitations and challenges in practice indicative of more modest reforms.

Background

Introduced by the Criminal Finances Act 2017, which amended the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002), the aim behind UWOs was set out in the legislation’s Explanatory Notes: to fill the lacuna in the POCA 2002 provisions that often meant enforcement authorities were unable to freeze or recover assets, even when they had reasonable grounds to suspect the identified assets represented the proceeds of crime, due to their inability to obtain evidence —often from overseas jurisdictions.

UWOs do not confer a new power to

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