The UK Introduces Law to 'Seize, Freeze and Recover' Crypto Assets

The UK Introduces Law to 'Seize, Freeze and Recover' Crypto Assets

The British government has placed the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill in Parliament that will "make it easier and quicker" for law enforcement agencies "to seize, freeze, and recover crypto assets." The government has said, "We must ensure that law enforcement agencies have the right legislative framework in place to recover criminals’ crypto assets."

New Bill to Help Authorities Seize, Freeze, and Recover Crypto Assets

The British Government introduced the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill in the House of Commons on Thursday. The bill "aims to strengthen the U.K.’s fight against economic crime," the government detailed, noting that "it will also support efforts to tackle terrorist financing."

The government has explained:

"The new law will make it easier and quicker for law enforcement agencies such as the National Crime Agency to seize, freeze, and recover crypto assets, the digital currency increasingly used by organized criminals to launder profits from fraud, drugs, and cybercrime."

The bill includes amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) to support the recovery of crypto assets.

"We must ensure that law enforcement agencies have the right legislative framework in place to recover criminals’ crypto assets to ensure crime does not pay and prevent those assets from being used to fund further criminality and terrorist activities," the government continued. "The use of this digital currency has significantly increased in recent years, with the Metropolitan Police reporting a big rise in cryptocurrency seizures last year."

Director General of the National Crime Agency, Graeme Biggar, commented:

"Domestic and international criminals have for years laundered the proceeds of their crime and corruption by abusing U.K. company structures, and are increasingly using cryptocurrencies."

Crypto-regulation may be changing in the U.K. under the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss. Several key officials, including former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen, resigned from the government before she took office.

In May, the U.K. government outlined its plans to support crypto adoption and affirmed its commitment to regulate stablecoins.