UK small businesses set to be excluded from anti-fraud legislation – comments from leading civil fraud lawyer

Further to the news that that Ministers are planning to exclude UK small businesses from upcoming anti-fraud legislation.

Kate Gee, Counsel at Signature Litigation commented: “Economic crime remains a problem for companies of all shapes and sizes. When a fraud is uncovered, one often finds that it involves a complex web of companies – both big and small. By excluding small UK business from anti-fraud legislation, or by limiting the requirements on them, it creates opportunities for fraudsters to use small companies to avoid detection.

“If small companies are exempt from the legislation, the government risks sending a message that fraud is not something that small businesses need to be concerned about when – by contrast – small companies are often involved in money laundering schemes and, if exempt, will continue to be attractive vessels for bad actors to exploit.”