The Government is due to publish a new proceeds of crime bill tomorrow, which will introduce Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs), as reported in The Times (paywall).

UWOs would allow the police to apply for an order to require individuals to explain their source of wealth where it exceeds their lawful income. They will be an useful antidote to foreign public officials on low salaries and no other obvious source of legal income who hold valuable UK property, as reported  following the release of the Panama Papers.

Our James Maton was a member of the Transparency International panel that developed a detailed proposal for UWOs (see summary here). We will publish our analysis of the Government’s proposal once it is published.

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