Policy paper

Australia-UK Joint Statement from the second UK-Australia Illicit Finance Dialogue

Published 6 November 2024

Canberra, 16 to 17 September 2024

The Australian Attorney General’s Department and the United Kingdom Home Office, in conjunction with colleagues across respective governments, have renewed our joint commitment to combating illicit financing through convening the second UK-Australia Illicit Finance Dialogue in Canberra in September 2024.

The dialogue brought together senior and working level officials from our respective policy, law enforcement, intelligence, and customs agencies to align our efforts and share best practice. This dialogue delivers on the commitment of our agencies under the 2022 UK-Australia Declaration to Combat Illicit Finance and follows the inaugural dialogue held in London in 2023.

The harms of illicit finance are felt globally. It damages our economies and erodes democratic institutions and international norms. It fuels the illicit drug trade and enables the scam factories that destroy the lives and livelihoods of individuals and families.

Australia and the UK discussed the importance of coordinating our efforts to build capacity and support the improvement of frameworks globally to counter illicit finance. No region is immune from illicit financing, including in the Pacific, where continuing susceptibility as a pathway for illicit finance emphasises the importance of strong financial crime frameworks. We discussed the imperative of a continued presence of high-quality providers of banking services, and in particular the corresponding banking relationships that connect the region to the global financial system. These are crucial to ensure that transactions are not pushed to informal networks.

Building from discussions in 2023, we shared our continuing efforts to enhance corporate transparency in Australia and the UK to prevent the abuse of complex corporate structures by malign actors and criminal networks to disguise and fund illicit activities.

Australia also provided an update on landmark reforms to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 introduced in Parliament on 11 September 2024. These reforms will extend Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations to cover ‘gatekeeper professions’ at high risk of exploitation for money laundering, bringing Australia into line with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force, and will simplify, clarify and streamline the regulatory regime.

The UK shared its experience in regulating these sectors. Our agencies will continue to cooperate and share our policy and legislative responses to harden our financial systems against abuse by criminals. The two countries shared best practice on how to address the role of gatekeeper industries and how these reforms can be both business and security friendly.

Australia and the UK also discussed efforts to improve sanctions compliance and prevent sanctions evasion by those who seek to cause harm to our communities. Adaptability of a sanctions compliance frameworks is critical to ensuring that sanctioned entities cannot access financial flows in contravention of sanctions measures. Both parties agreed the increased importance of targeting the illicit financial flows that support Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.

Fraud and scams are widespread and cause significant financial and other harm for individuals, the private sector and government. Respective agencies discussed the strategic approach being taken by the UK and Australia to respond to fraud and scams, including through leveraging intelligence and activities across the private sector to inform policy and law enforcement interventions, as well as approaches to strengthen the expectations on the private sector to make individuals and businesses tougher targets for fraudsters. Following the UK-hosted Global Fraud Summit, both parties also discussed opportunities to support global efforts to fight fraud and scams.

Australia and the United Kingdom have a long history of cooperation to counter illicit finance and related threats. Building on this successful dialogue, we will continue to work closely together at policy and operational levels to advance best-practice responses to disrupt illicit finance.