The United Kingdom has unveiled a new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy backed by £500 million, approximately $676 million, over three years and the recruitment of 500 additional officers across police forces, the National Crime Agency, and the Crown Prosecution Service.
The Home Office said the funding will come from the economic crime levy on regulated businesses. It warned that the money laundering threat has grown due to the rise of fintech, cryptocurrencies, and artificial intelligence. The National Crime Agency estimates more than £100 billion is laundered annually through the UK or through British corporate structures.
The strategy builds on Operation Destabilise, which targeted networks converting street cash into cryptocurrencies for organised crime. That operation has led to 119 arrests and the seizure of more than £25 million in cash and crypto assets in under a year. Separately, Operation Atlantic traced over $45 million in stolen crypto and secured or froze more than $12 million.
Crypto is not receiving a separate officer quota, but the government names digital assets among the technologies reshaping illicit finance. The NCA's Economic Crime Centre placed crypto assets third among its nine economic crime priorities, agreed with the Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority. NCA deputy director Sal Melki said the investment will fund a next-generation financial intelligence service. The government also reported nearly £350 million recovered from criminals, more than £1 billion blocked, and nearly 4,000 money laundering convictions over the past year.
