Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 36
Implement comprehensive measures to combat Central Asian illicit finance and corruption
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government: a) Offers assistance to each of the Central Asian countries in building their domestic capacity to tackle corruption and money laundering as a contribution to their economic development. b) Encourages the National Crime Agency to send agents to liaise with Central Asian governments in developing cooperation on Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO) and on bringing back stolen public assets from the UK. c) Ensures that Oversees Territory governments comply with the extended deadline of implementing public registers of beneficial ownership with full and free access to company data, not limited to single entries. There should be no further deadline extensions. d) Imposes Global Anti-Corruption sanctions designations on those whose origins of wealth can be tied to assets they have illegally seized and apply the Global Forum on Asset Recovery’s Principles for Disposition and Transfer of Confiscated Stolen Assets in Corruption Cases (the GFAR Principles). e) Ensures the Transatlantic Taskforce to tackle kleptocracy and Russian sanctions evasion, established in 2022, provides a special focus on sanctions evasion in Central Asia, by ensuring that the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updates Parliament with a special report on the action taken.
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees, stating they provide existing capacity building support via law enforcement cooperation and will continue to respond to new opportunities. They are considering future governance interventions and are already running pilots through the EGED programme, alongside supporting Kazakhstan's financial intelligence capabilities.
Paragraph Reference:
36
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
a) Offers assistance to each of the Central Asian countries in building their domestic capacity to tackle corruption and money laundering as a contribution to their economic development. Partially Agree 25. As the report highlights, tackling corruption and illicit finance is an important element for developing economic resilience and political independence. The report also notes the challenging geopolitical context. In the Department’s oral evidence to the Committee, the FCDO outlined the capacity building support we are providing via law enforcement cooperation. The FCDO will continue to respond to new opportunities in Central Asia to apply the approach to illicit finance outlined in the White Paper on International Development. 26. We also recognise there is significant scope in some Central Asian countries to support governance reforms which strengthen checks and balances (e.g. work on public financial management; procurement reforms; reforms of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs); and working with oversight institutions such as supreme audit bodies). We are considering the next generation of interventions for a future governance programme - which would work at the national and sub-national levels on these issues. We are already (through the Effective Governance for Economic Development (EGED) programme) running pilots to reduce corruption risks through: undertaking a PEFA (Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability) assessment in Uzbekistan; supporting public procurement reforms; and reform of State Owned Enterprises. 27. Protecting space for civil society is key for anti-corruption reforms to succeed. The UK is committed to supporting open societies and, through EGED, engages with civil society organisations to help them develop and ensure public participation in public policy. We are separately working with Kazakhstan to support the development of their financial intelligence capabilities, which includes training around illicit finance in virtual assets and Know Your Customer.