UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025 Brings New Funding and Enforcement

The strategy expands UK enforcement and screening measures that will affect public agencies, regulated professions, and businesses subject to anti-money-laundering rules. 

The UK government published a new Anti-Corruption Strategy on Monday, 8 December 2025, outlining steps to strengthen investigations into bribery and related money laundering, tighten integrity checks for public-sector roles, and target “professional enablers” accused of helping conceal criminal proceeds.

The plan was issued by the Home Office, HM Treasury and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and was announced alongside new funding for a specialist unit hosted by the City of London Police.

The measures are intended to apply across the UK’s public institutions and the regulated private sector, including parts of the legal, accountancy and financial services industries.

The strategy lands as ministers continue to argue that illicit finance poses a national security and economic risk, and as the UK rolls out wider economic crime reforms already set in motion by earlier legislation.

Those include rules that underpin anti-money-laundering supervision and transparency measures aimed at reducing the use of anonymous structures in UK markets.

The government says the new plan is designed to improve enforcement capacity and coordination rather than rewrite core criminal offences.

Funding and Enforcement Plans Behind the New Strategy

The government said it will allocate £15 million to expand the Domestic Corruption Unit within the City of London Police, which already serves as the national lead force for fraud and hosts national reporting infrastructure used by policing.

Ministers also linked the strategy to additional annual funding from the Economic Crime Levy. Government guidance says the levy was announced at Budget 2020 and came into effect from April 2022, with early payments covering April 2022 to March 2023 and made in the following financial year.

In the strategy document, the government says it will continue supporting the National Crime Agency’s International Corruption Unit and the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre, while also piloting the use of artificial intelligence tools to speed up complex investigations, including work connected to the Serious Fraud Office.

Officials Describe a Tougher Stance on “Enablers” and Insiders

In the GOV.UK announcement, ministers said the strategy will focus on corrupt insiders and networks and will pursue professional “enablers” through stronger coordination and sanctions, alongside expanded investigative capacity.

Separately, a written statement published through Parliament on 8 December 2025 said the government plans to expand sanctions use against corrupt actors and their enablers, explore reforms to the UK whistleblowing framework including potential financial incentives, and pilot AI-supported approaches to speed up complex inquiries.

Outside government, professional bodies have been tracking how anti-money-laundering supervision could change.

The Law Society’s timeline notes that HM Treasury announced reforms to the AML/CTF supervision regime in October 2025 and consulted further in November 2025 on supervisory powers, with responses continuing into December.

What the Strategy Could Change for the Public and Firms

For public services, the strategy signals broader integrity screening and tighter hiring controls for roles viewed as vulnerable to corruption risks, including at the border and in justice-related agencies.

The government framed this as a way to reduce infiltration by organised crime groups and to improve trust in frontline institutions.

For regulated firms, the policy direction aligns with existing duties under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, which require covered businesses to assess risk and carry out customer due diligence, supported by supervision that the government now intends to consolidate.

The strategy also sits alongside prior transparency efforts intended to make it harder to hide ownership in UK markets.

For example, the Register of Overseas Entities came into force on 1 August 2022 under the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, requiring overseas entities that own certain UK property to disclose beneficial ownership information.

Enforcement and Transparency Data That Frames the Policy Debate

The government repeated the National Crime Agency’s estimate that more than £100 billion could be laundered through the UK each year, alongside figures on bribery offers reported by UK businesses.

Separately, Reuters reported in May 2024 that more than 400 offshore entities had been fined a total of £21.86 million for failing to register under the Register of Overseas Entities, but only a small fraction of those fines had been paid at the time of reporting.

Reuters also reported the register listed 30,931 entries then, compared with an estimate of 32,440 offshore companies owning UK property.

UK anti-money-laundering oversight has also faced scrutiny.

The Financial Conduct Authority explains that OPBAS, its Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision operates under the OPBAS Regulations 2017 and is intended to help ensure professional body supervisors meet standards required by the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.

How to Report Concerns About Corruption or Serious Bribery

Members of the public and whistleblowers can submit reports of serious bribery and corruption to the Serious Fraud Office using its public reporting portal.

For fraud and cybercrime reports in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, policing has moved public reporting to Report Fraud, which accepts reports online and by phone.

People who want to share information anonymously can use Crimestoppers (0800 555 111), and there is also a dedicated Police Anti-Corruption and Abuse Reporting Service (0800 085 0000) for information about serving police personnel.

Workers raising concerns may have legal protections under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, which can protect whistleblowers from detriment and unfair dismissal in defined circumstances.

Next Steps for the UK’s Anti-Corruption Drive

Delivery of the anti-corruption strategy will be overseen jointly by the Home Office, HM Treasury and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, with responsibility spread across law enforcement agencies and regulators.

The government has confirmed it will also host a Countering Illicit Finance Summit next year, bringing together international partners and enforcement bodies to coordinate action against cross-border money laundering and corruption networks.

Where proposed reforms require changes to supervision structures or legal frameworks, they will proceed through formal consultation and, if necessary, the parliamentary process.

HM Treasury has already begun consultation work on reforms to the UK’s anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision regime.

The strategy matters because corruption and illicit finance can drain public funds, distort fair competition, and undermine trust in public institutions.

Public bodies, regulated professionals, and businesses subject to anti-money-laundering rules are likely to see the most direct impact.

The plan also reinforces existing legal frameworks on bribery, money laundering, and transparency, shaping how enforcement agencies prioritise cases.

Audiences and stakeholders will be watching closely for consultation outcomes, recruitment and rollout of specialist policing units, and clearer timelines for supervision and regulatory reforms.