National Economic Crime Centre opens for business with remit to protect public and businesses
Ben Wallace, the Minister of State for Security and Economic Crime, has formally launched an ambitious new partnership designed to fight economic crime. The National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) has begun its work with a clear mission to protect the public and businesses alike, as well as safeguard the UK’s prosperity and reputation.
The NECC is based at the National Crime Agency’s London headquarters and includes officers from the Agency, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the City of London Police, the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office.
As well as bringing together colleagues from law enforcement, the NECC also includes partners from Government and the private sector. The NECC will ensure that criminals defrauding British citizens, attacking UK industry and abusing UK financial services are effectively pursued, and also that the UK’s industries and Government agencies know how to prevent economic crime.
The partnership will drive how UK law enforcement tasks and co-ordinates activities, all the while ensuring that the right agencies use the right tools and tactics to derive the best results. The NECC will identify and prioritise the most appropriate types of investigations – whether they be criminal, civil or regulatory in focus – in order to ensure maximum impact.
It will also promote the use of new powers such as Unexplained Wealth Orders and Account Freezing Orders in order to tackle illicit finance across all threat types.