HM Treasury has published its first report on the operation of the Economic Crime (Anti-Money Laundering) Levy, setting out how the levy was collected and how the proceeds were used to fund anti-money laundering activity. In 2023-24, 2,927 entities paid the levy, generating GBP 90.715m of receipts, with GBP 90m spent across six programme deliverables. The report notes that the levy is collected in arrears, so 2023-24 receipts relate to liabilities accrued in 2022-23. The levy is paid by entities subject to the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and is collected by the Financial Conduct Authority, the Gambling Commission and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, with charges set by UK revenue bands (nil under GBP 10.2m, then GBP 10,000, GBP 36,000 and GBP 250,000 in 2023-24). Receipts were split across bands as GBP 14.0m (medium), GBP 49.7m (large) and GBP 27.0m (very large), and overall receipts were below the original GBP 100m annual target, leading to revised-down spending plans. Spending in 2023-24 was concentrated in technology and law enforcement capability, including GBP 42.7m for technology, GBP 25.5m for specialist intelligence and expansion of the Combating Kleptocracy Cell, and GBP 12.7m for wider resourcing, alongside GBP 6.0m for SARs analysis capacity, GBP 2.1m for Companies House and Insolvency Service intelligence teams, GBP 0.3m for AML supervision reform work and GBP 0.7m in collection costs. In response to the receipts shortfall, the report describes a rate increase for ‘very large’ entities to GBP 500,000 from April 2024, with the higher rate collected in 2025-26 for 2024-25 liabilities. It forecasts the levy raising around GBP 115m per year from 2025-26 onwards, notes that allocations for 2026-27 to 2028-29 are under discussion and will be announced to a Spending Review Phase 2 timeline, and states that annual reporting will continue alongside a comprehensive review of the levy’s operation by the end of 2027.

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