Britain’s government has passed a bill to strengthen law enforcement’s power to seize cryptocurrency assets linked to criminal activities, including money laundering, fraud and ransomware attacks.
According to the lawmakers’ website, the bill officially became law after royal assent on Oct. 26.
This legislation, titled the ‘Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill’, gives government agencies, such as police, the power to seize cryptocurrency assets as part of an investigation without necessarily arresting an individual for a criminal offense.
The bill was introduced in September 2022 and has undergone several amendments and corrections to cover money laundering or terrorist financing.
A British-based accounting firm, Swindell Accounting, wrote in a blog post:
“The Bill will also strengthen anti-money laundering powers and help facilitate better sharing of information about suspected crimes. In certain situations, companies will be able to share information more easily for the purpose of preventing, investigating or detecting economic crime. Civil liability will not apply to breaches of confidentiality of companies providing information about economic criminal offences.”
The passage of the bill will strengthen the efforts of the British authorities in combating crypto-related crimes. CryptoSlate reported that the Metropolitan Police had seized millions of cryptocurrencies linked to crimes before approval.
The UK’s recent efforts in crypto regulation
This bill is part of the UK government’s recent initiative to regulate the growing cryptocurrency industry. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently introduced new regulations requiring firms to warn investors of the potential risks of losing their money in crypto investment products.
On October 25, the FCA expressed concern that several crypto companies were not meeting these promotional requirements and warned of imminent action against violators. The regulations give the government the ability to impose unlimited fines on companies and even impose prison sentences on executives of these companies.
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