UK anti-corruption strategy targets virtual currency sanctions evasion

The UK government has announced a new anti-corruption strategy aimed at strengthening enforcement, closing financial crime loopholes and curbing the use of crypto assets to evade international sanctions.

Announcing the strategy on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney General David Lammy said corruption was a threat that “bleeds countries, fuels conflicts like Putin’s brutal Ukraine war, and spreads across borders like a stain.”

“We are demonstrating international leadership and mobilizing our partners to close the gaps exploited by thieves and organized criminals,” Lamy said in a statement.

“Just closer to home, we are strengthening law enforcement, rooting out small numbers of corrupt actors from public forces and reforming our courts to tackle complex economic crime. Our message is clear: Britain has and will not tolerate corruption.”

The National Crime Agency estimates that more than $133 billion is laundered through the UK each year. British businesses faced 117,000 bribe offers totaling more than $400 million across the country in 2024, harming legitimate businesses and harming consumers. The NCA also disrupted a Russian money laundering network in the UK, seizing over $27 million in cash and virtual currency.

target corruption

The strategy targets both domestic corruption and foreign actors funneling illicit wealth through the UK.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the plan was built around three pillars. First, it aims to crack down on corrupt actors and their funding through stronger police enforcement, wider sanctions, reform of the whistleblowing framework, greater ownership transparency and an overhaul of the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing oversight systems.

It will also strengthen the UK’s institutions by raising standards in people’s lives through the establishment of a new Ethics and Integrity Commission, stricter operational appointment rules and greater transparency around political donations.

And finally, the UK wants to work more closely with foreign partners to strengthen our collective defense against corruption and illicit finance.

Mr Jarvis said: “By taking these steps, the UK will become less of a target for corrupt actors and their funds, increasing confidence in our people’s lives, supporting investment and strengthening our national security.”

The strategy builds on Sunday’s Foreign Office announcement that the UK will host an international summit on illicit finance in June 2026. The event will bring together representatives from governments, civil society, and the private sector, including major banks, to build a global coalition against dirty money in hopes of creating “a new agreement to tackle modern methods of moving dirty money, such as laundering in the real estate sector, the misuse of crypto assets, and illicit gold trading.”

did not respond to requests from decryption Learn more about the misuse of crypto assets here.

Daniel Bruce, chief executive of Transparency International UK, said the new plan was the government’s most ambitious in years, but warned there were “significant gaps” in terms of political integrity and party funding.

“The UK still lacks caps on donations and lower spending limits that provide real insurance against the influence of big money in politics,” he said.

“The revolving door is effectively unenforced for ministers, and compared to cosmopolitan cities, Westminster remains severely opaque and there is a lack of action on political integrity.”

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government was “committed to turning the tide” and named cryptocurrencies as “increasingly being exploited by smugglers to hide their profits”.

In a statement, she highlighted new sanctions against global fraud networks, measures against Kremlin-linked oligarchies and efforts to rein in criminals hiding wealth in London real estate.

Mr Cooper said: “Dirty money is fueling crime on Britain’s streets and causing conflict and instability overseas.” “Thieves are buying up real estate and inflating house prices to launder their ill-gotten gains. Profits from the illegal gold trade are fueling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the deadly conflict in Sudan.”

“I am starting preparations in earnest for the summit and issuing a warning to the corrupt. Britain is ready to shut you out,” she added.