Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering
Our proceeds of crime solicitors act for individuals and their family members, as well as financial institutions, professional services firms and companies.
Kingsley Napley has an excellent reputation for proceeds of crime work, born of long-standing experience. This practice area continues to grow as law enforcement agencies target funds alleged to have a suspicious origin and make increasing use of measures designed to tackle illicit finance, including account freezing orders and unexplained wealth orders.
We act for individuals and their family members who may find themselves, unwittingly or otherwise, targets of the asset recovery or forfeiture regimes. We also advise financial institutions, professional services firms and companies – from the property, art market and gambling sectors through to medicinal cannabis manufacturers.
The risks of falling foul of enforcement action under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”) can be loss of assets, fines or even imprisonment. Our priority is to deal with allegations as quickly and discreetly as possible. We are recognised as a go-to firm for those alleged to be connected – directly or indirectly – with funds of suspicious origin. We are also frequently approached by individual and corporate clients to conduct preventative checks on their asset base or company processes for monitoring money laundering or POCA compliance.
Proceeds of crime solicitors
We have a large team of expert lawyers who routinely deal with matters involving all UK law enforcement agencies, including the police, National Crime Agency, Crown Prosecution Service, Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority and HM Revenue & Customs.
Our reputation is built on a combination of our legal acumen and our understanding of clients’ interests, in circumstances of invariably high stakes: be it the need for urgent access to business or living expenses, the destiny of family assets or the protection of individual or corporate reputations.
The armoury of restraint and confiscation tools available under POCA has been reinforced over time, including by the Criminal Finances Act 2017 which introduced Account Freezing Orders, Account Forfeiture Notices and Orders and Unexplained Wealth Orders.
The State’s appetite for confiscating assets suspected of representing criminal property is very real, and diminishing the UK’s reputation as a safe haven for dirty money is an oft-stated priority for law enforcement. As a consequence of relentless focus over the last two decades, the UK now has probably one of the toughest asset recovery regimes in the world.
