Criminal Finances Bill

Some time has passed since we last considered this Bill. There was, as hon. Members will recall, ...

The point about the Magnitsky Act in the US is that it pulls together the visa ban, the ban on us...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that point. I will get to that later in my speech, but we hav...

The Minister is clearly very well informed on this issue, and I know that he has had meetings on ...

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point. I have to respect the boundaries of our ...

The Government’s new clause 7 contains no duty on the Government to act at all; they can simply i...

The hon. Gentleman talks about duty, but there are lots of criminal offences on the statute books...

But in the Government’s new clause, as opposed to new clause 1, there is no provision for third p...

I am afraid we are not. The National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office and Her Majesty’s Rev...

That is simply not the case. For example, we already regularly have lots of vexatious application...

First, the hon. Gentleman misses the point that courts do not like vexatious complaints. They do ...

Have the Government considered whether any application should go first to the Attorney General be...

We did consider that in consultation with the office of the Attorney General and the Solicitor Ge...

Surely that is the substantive point. The concern would be that we would get not only vexatious c...

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right that it sends a message, but it also respects the indepe...

It is not fair for us to live in a world in which criminals are free to generate cash and spend i...

I rise to speak to new clause 1, which is known as the Magnitsky amendment, and to touch on the G...

I am delighted to tell my hon. Friend that I will commit to collecting those stats and ensuring t...

I thank the Minister for such an immediate, swift and decisive acceptance and provision of assura...

My hon. Friend says that visa bans are for another day, but of course visa bans already exist as ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We will need a separate legislative vehicle to address the wi...

As I rise to speak to this group of amendments, it looks as though new clause 1 might not be move...

I am pleased to be given the opportunity to speak to this significant legislation, which will cer...

Perhaps I can inform my hon. Friend and the rest of the House on the visa issue. We can refuse a ...

I am grateful for the Minister’s clarification. It would be helpful if he could say that it is th...

I want to pay tribute to two people, the first of whom is the Minister for introducing this Bill....

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant). I agred with much of...

I thank the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab) for putting together the proposal in new c...

I, as a signatory of new clause 1, can be very brief because my right hon. and hon. Friends, and ...

We have had a very important and well-informed debate. I am very grateful to colleagues for their...

Will it also include the names and titles of people from whom the assets have been taken?

I will have to check and get back to my hon. Friend, but any court action is a matter of public r...

But if the prosecuting authorities were, for a corrupt reason, to choose not to prosecute, there ...

I am afraid I have too positive a view of the integrity of our law enforcement agencies to say—or...

rose—

I really do have to press on. Hon. Members have made a considerable number of valid queries and I...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 5—Unexplained Wealth O...

We now come to a group of amendments relating to law enforcement investigative and recovery power...

The Minister will be aware that although the aspiration is to see an early return to the Stormont...

We are in ongoing discussions with the Northern Ireland Assembly, and we hope that the Northern I...

The election is planned for 2 March. I agree with the aspiration to see a return to Stormont as s...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and I will certainly put that suggestion to officials. My vi...

We on the Opposition side support the spirit of the Bill and broadly support this group of amendm...

It is a pleasure to speak to new clause 5, which, as the Minister said, stands in my name and tho...

I want to talk briefly about what I must admit is probably my favourite section of the Bill—the p...

In response to what has been said about the issue, and the sensible suggestions made by the hon. ...

That is very co-operative of the Minister, and I greatly appreciate it. I may not have his confid...

This has been a short and helpful part of our proceedings today. I am pleased that Members in all...

Given that we want to start using these orders immediately, resource is a key issue. It is diffic...

I can reassure the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Swansea East (Carolyn Harris) that one ...

I am listening intently to what the Minister is saying, and I am reminded of an Evening Standard ...

The impact assessment is not linked to access to funds. The impact assessment is a judgment as to...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 3—Failure to Prevent a...

I shall be relatively brief in introducing this group of new clauses. In moving new clause 2, whi...

Very few in this case.

Very few. I am diverting myself, because I deliberately said “a cloud in every silver lining” not...

I start by thanking the Security Minister and the Government for responding to the campaign on Sc...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I rise to address the new clauses that my right hon. an...

In the US context, does my hon. Friend accept that there is often a political element there, desp...

I agree with my right hon. Friend’s point. It is interesting that the United States seems to favo...

My hon. Friend makes a strong and powerful case, but does he not recognise the distinction betwee...

I accept that we hear the privacy argument a lot—I am sure that it is made in the UK context as w...

My hon. Friend gave the example of a toll road in Tajikistan. Because of where we are now, with a...

I am grateful to the Minister for making those points, but we should be careful that we do not fo...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Nigel Mills). I almost feel like not...

My right hon. Friend is making an incredibly strong point. I, too, was pleased to add my name to ...

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend and I thank him for his support and for putting his name t...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that there is a conflict here? On the one hand, different Labour ...

If we do not have the tools to make the difference, we are not going to see the change that I thi...

The right hon. Lady is not being very charitable. Actually, we have achieved an awful lot since D...

I thank the Minister for that information, because I did go and read the final communiqué from th...

The Minister has just told us that he did raise the issue of making the register of ownership pub...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. Part of having this debate, and part of looking ...

New clause 6 is an important probing amendment. I very much look forward to hearing what the Mini...

It is a pleasure to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), wh...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman—

Not yet.

I apologise to the hon. Gentleman, who should be “right honourable”. I absolutely agree that it i...

The reason was very properly and sensibly set out by my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton C...

I, too, would like to say a few brief words on new clause 6. I declare an interest: I chaired the...

I rise to support new clause 6, to which I added my name in the full confidence that I was merely...

It is fair enough that I be allowed to defend myself. I was making the point that while I favoure...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for clarifying what he said, but my point still stands, whi...

I have spent the last 16 years as the Member for Cities of London and Westminster, and six of tho...

It is an honour to follow the right hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mark Field)...

This group of new clauses contains a fair few of ours, so I shall take a bit longer than I did la...

Will the hon. Lady recognise for once that through cajoling and peer group pressure all Crown dep...

I listened carefully to what the Minister said, and he said something similar in response to my r...

The specific problem is about legislating for the overseas territories rather than the Crown depe...

First, I would like to finish what I was trying to say. I was coming to the Crown dependencies an...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will carry on for the moment because I want to make some progress—I am not able to get a senten...

It would not be unreasonable for the hon. Lady to note that I was not Chair of the Justice Commit...

As I have said, there seems to be a lack of will. The hon. Gentleman talked at length about Gibra...

Given the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, it is of course open to this place to legislate...

No, I did not say that. If the hon. Gentleman had listened, he would know that I did not mention ...

I would like to make progress. I will not take any more interventions, because I am still at the ...

rose—

I have said that I am not giving way any more.

I didn’t hear you.

It would help if Members were listening to me. How many times have I given way? Numerous times—mo...

Order. The hon. Lady is not going to read out all 46, is she? She has made her point most eloquen...

I am most grateful for that clarification, Madam Deputy Speaker. Some of those on the list are th...

Is that it?

No, there is more.

The main point I want to make is that our Government should be at the fo...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq). I will take thi...

Can the Minister give the House a categorical assurance that none of the money made from ill-gott...

We find criminals using banking systems all over the world to hide their money, whether that is i...

I welcome my hon. Friend’s restatement that the Government remain committed to transparency. Will...

The first commitment is for the central register to be in place by June this year. Where overseas...

A number of the Minister’s hon. Friends used the argument of competitive disadvantage when speaki...

We do have to recognise that there is a difference between secrecy and privacy; we have to respec...

Just to clarify the point, some of the Minister’s hon. Friends said that their grounds for not su...

The United Kingdom Government do not think they are at a competitive disadvantage, and that is wh...

Will the Minister give way?

No, I have to press on. I am sorry.

The damage caused by economic crime perpetrated on beha...

What can the Minister tell us about the mystery Committee that is sitting for one hour today and ...

Well, apart from asking the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath how he has enjoyed his hour...

I will not press new clause 6 to a vote. I do not believe that the Minister has really answered t...

My new clause 2 was drafted and tabled before Christmas. Since then, I have had a number of meeti...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I wonder whether you could advise me. I have been to Downing Str...

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and for giving me a moment’s notice of it. ...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

Financial profit is at the heart o...

We in the Opposition broadly support the thrust of this legislation, and we have noted that the M...

This debate has been concluded with notable speed.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill a...