What amendments are needed to the sanctions powers in the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill being considered by Parliament?

Publications / Briefings

The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill: four delegated powers that should be amended to improve future accountability to Parliament

3 Mar 2022

The Bill seeks to crack down on ‘dirty money’ and corrupt elites in the UK and is being expedited through Parliament following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This briefing identifies four delegated powers in the Bill that should be amended to ensure future accountability to Parliament.

Download the briefing

,
Researcher, Hansard Society

Get our latest research, insights and events delivered to your inbox

Share this and support our work

The scope and design of the delegation of power sought in any Bill raise important questions for MPs that go to the heart of their role as legislators. MPs should be clear about the level of authority they are delegating to government Ministers and be confident that they will not regret forgoing their ability to fully scrutinise future government decisions.

Our analysis of delegated powers in this and other Bills draws heavily on ‘legislative standards’ which we have derived from reports of the House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee (DPRRC). The DPRRC is an influential committee and provides the nearest thing to a form of ‘jurisprudence’ (or ‘legisprudence’) in the area of delegated powers.

The Bill falls into three Parts:

Part 1 of the Bill makes provisions to set up a register of overseas entities and their beneficial owners, and requires overseas entities who own land in the UK to register in certain circumstances. The purpose behind these provisions is to combat economic crime, by requiring anonymous foreign owners of UK property to reveal their real identities to ensure criminals cannot hide behind chains of shell companies. We have identified at least 23 provisions that confer new delegated powers (not including the powers to make commencement, transitional and saving provisions). Of these, seven include powers that can be exercised to amend primary legislation (‘Henry VIII powers’).

Part 2 of the Bill makes provisions to reform Unexplained Wealth Orders by amending the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Part 3 of the Bill makes provisions about breaches of financial sanctions by amending the Policing and Crime Act 2017. These Parts contain no provisions that confer new delegated powers.

There are four clauses of concern

Clause 14: Sections 12 and 13: supplementary
Clause 17: Power to modify application process etc in certain cases
Clause 23: Disclosure of protected information
Clause 38: Financial penalties

The exercise of the powers in the first three clauses is subject to the ‘negative’ parliamentary scrutiny procedure. In all three cases we recommend that parliamentarians should seek to amend the clauses so that the higher ‘affirmative’ scrutiny procedure applies. The briefing provides a suggested amendment to achieve this in each case.

The fourth and final clause of concern relates to the imposition of a financial penalty. Where the penalty for an offence may be set by delegated legislation, the maximum penalty that can be imposed should be set out on the face of the Bill. The Bill does not do this, so the briefing provides a suggested amendment to achieve this objective.

Cite this

Vangimalla, D. (2022) The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill: Delegated Powers (London: Hansard Society)

Who funds this work?

This work is supported by the Legal Education Foundation as part of the Hansard Society's Delegated Legislation Review.

Latest / Highlights

News / Post Office Horizon scandal: What is Parliament doing about it? - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 33

Should Parliament simply overturn the convictions of postmasters caught up in the Post Office Horizon scandal? That’s what the Government proposes to do through the Post Office (Horizon system) Offences Bill. But quashing of convictions is normally a matter for the courts. Some MPs have misgivings about setting a constitutional precedent as well as practical concerns about how the Bill will be implemented. We talk to the Chair of the Justice Select Committee, Sir Bob Neill MP.

Events / The inaugural Churchill-Attlee Democracy Lecture, to be given by the Rt Hon Theresa May MP

To mark the Hansard Society’s 80th anniversary we are launching the Churchill-Attlee Democracy Lecture in honour of our first members, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee. The inaugural lecture will be given by former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Theresa May MP. All profit from ticket sales goes to our 80th Anniversary Appeal. Date & location: Tuesday 14 May 2024, 7:00-8:15pm, Westminster (venue to be announced) Tickets: £25

News / Is AI set to destroy trust in elections? Tackling misinformation in politics & Parliament, with top fact checker Full Fact's Chris Morris - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 32

The emerging role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in shaping political discourse is a potential game changer. It has the capacity to fabricate fake interviews and manipulate images, all of which could mislead voters and disrupt the democratic process. But could it affect the results of our elections? We talk to Chris Morris, the head of factchecking organisation, Full Fact, about the threats posed by these technologies, the potential scale of misinformation in politics, and the measures politicians and political parties need to take to counteract them.

Briefings / General election rules and regulations: what has changed?

With a general election on the horizon there has been a spate of new legislation and regulations to implement changes to the way the election will be run, with consequences for voters and electoral administrators. Parliament has not always had a role in approving these changes. This briefing sets out the core changes to the electoral process that have been implemented since the last general election in 2019, the role that Parliament has played in scrutinising and approving them, and the risks arising from these changes.

News / Rwanda Bill becomes law: but what was really going on behind the scenes in Parliament? - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 31

The Rwanda Bill has made it over the parliamentary finishing line but not without some last-minute drama. We talk to the SNP’s Alison Thewliss MP about what went on in a small room, behind the Speaker’s Chair, away from the cameras!