Press Release

FLA FINANCIAL CRIME CONFERENCE REVIEW

23 October 2006

Combating money laundering, vehicle fraud and other finance related crime were top of the agenda at the Finance & Leasing Association’s (FLA’s) Financial Crime Conference 2006 held in London on 17 October, and chaired by Martin Hall, FLA Director General and Chairman of the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG).

In his opening remarks Hall welcomed the Government’s Fraud Review and the approval for the public sector to share data with the private sector through CIFAS. However he called for Government action to match its rhetoric in terms of devoting more resources to tackling fraud.

Jenny Rowe from the Attorney General’s office, told delegates that at the heart of the Fraud Review, was the recommendation of a National Strategic Fraud Authority, which would enable resources to be deployed where they were most needed. Alongside this, was a proposal to create a National Fraud Reporting Centre and a National Lead Force, likely to be the City of London Police which was already dedicated to tackling fraud. The intention was to establish a regime which identified evolving types of fraud and created a network of fraud investigators. Ms Rowe also suggested a move towards a US-based plea bargaining system to cut the costs and lengths associated with complex fraud trials.

Home Office official, Stephen Webb, covered the Government’s new powers on organised and financial crime, describing the new civil financial crime prevention orders as akin to an “organised crime ASBO”. He endorsed the Chairman’s remarks about the importance of public sector membership of CIFAS. Mr Webb said that the Home Office intended to publish estimates of the criminal economy by the end of this year.

FLA’s work on tackling fraud was praised by the Commissioner for the City of London Police, Mike Bowron. He perceived the National Strategic Fraud Authority to be a long-term solution: CIFAS membership was the answer in the interim.

Steve Wilkinson from the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) underlined that, as the ARA’s remit was to recoup ill-gotten gains, the Dylan Creavan case where £18m was handed over, was a resounding success given that it covered its annual operating costs of £15m.

Lucy French gave HM Treasury’s perspective on implementation of the Third Money Laundering Directive. Amongst the main impact would be explicit recognition of the risk-based approach, reliance for verification purposes on FSA-regulated third parties and the requirement for all sectors to be supervised.

The final slot of the morning fell to Steve Tuick of the Metropolitan Police who provided an overview of the fraud cycle. He focused particularly on cybercrime and steered delegates towards the Met’s anti-fraud website http://www.met.police.uk/fraudalert/

After lunch there were three breakout sessions focussing on asset finance, motor finance and money laundering. Topics comprised: protecting yourself against asset finance fraud; fraud relating to customer insolvencies; CIFAS vehicle fraud; travel and identity document abuse; Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) Guidance; role of FSA supervisors.

The day concluded with David Luijerink from KPMG informing delegates how to manage their fraud risk.