Accountants urged to help combat economic crime

The UK’s Suspicious Activity Reporting Reform program is a multi-year programme that supports the delivery of the UK’s Economic Crime Plan by ensuring that the SARs regime protects the integrity of the regulated sector; supports the disruption of money laundering, terrorist financing and predicate offences; and operates effectively and efficiently across the public and private sectors.

In the past 12 months, economic crime in the UK has risen more than 20 per cen. In response to this increase the UKFIU has established a Reporter Engagement Team which it hopes will help in identifying trends in SARs.

The Reporter Engagement Team was set up to enhance the feedback and engagement provided to support the regulated sector in submitting high quality SARs and managing economic crime effectively.

Part of the UKFIU's transformation under the broader SARs Reform Programme is assessing the impact of the changes, and the Reporter Engagement Team has created a survey which it is encouraging members to complete so it can improve on its response to reported SARs.

The survey is designed to help the UKFIU understand how well it is currently supporting SARs reporters and the impact of changes being made.

Responses to the survey will be used to understand how the UKFIU can continue to improve they work within its sectors.

The survey will be published in the next edition of the SARs In Action magazine, and is also available through the Home Office website.

Participants are able to complete the survey until 6pm on October 22, 2021.

For more information regarding the survey and the data collected, contact UKFIUEngagement@nca.gov.uk.