1. ⚖️ Very welcome ambition from the Crown Prosecution Service setting out how its new Serious & Economic Organised Crime (SEOC) Strategy 2030 will deliver the “step change” needed to respond to this increasingly complex, connected and tech-enabled criminality which costs the UK £47 billion annually.

Essential questions here from UK Anti-Corruption Champion Baroness Hodge. As Hodge notes, the reform to make the FCA the money laundering supervisor for lawyers and accountants will only work if it has the right powers & resources, and if OPBAS* is empowered to oversee a smooth transition.

Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson have made more than £1 million from GB News while serving as MPs, according to a new @desmog.com investigation. Spotlight's Kamila Kingstone is quoted in the piece, warning that huge outside earnings raise questions about whose interests MPs are representing.

📣 When a tiny number of people can write multi-million-pound cheques to political parties, it's fair to ask: whose voices are heard, & whose are drowned out? The full blog by Spotlight’s @suehawley.bsky.social and Tim Picton is on the Democracy for Sale website, but here are some highlights ...🧵

On Thurs, Spotlight's Executive Director, Dr Susan Hawley, will join an expert panel at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk to discuss the lessons from Covid & how government can build stronger safeguards, accountability and resilience for future crises. Register today.

1. 🏛️ The government's lobbying review is a once-in-a-Parliament opportunity to strengthen transparency, rebuild trust, and ensure decisions are made in the public interest. Our submission proposes six reforms to bring the UK in line with international best practice...🧵

1. 🚨 Five years after Greensill Capital collapsed, Lex Greensill has been banned from serving as a company director for nine years. But will he face any financial hit after the damage he caused? 🧵 www.gov.uk/government/n...

1. 🚨 A major new report on the National Crime Agency by the policing watchdog highlights that its focus on ‘smashing’ migrant smuggling gangs is diverting scarce resources from its fight against other serious crime, including its work tackling kleptocrats and other corrupt elites. 🧵

1. 🪖 Today’s Public Accounts Committee report on the Ministry of Defence’s tackling of economic crime and misconduct reveals alarming failures to protect and recover taxpayer money. 🧵 committees.parliament.uk/committee/12...

We strongly concur with @philbrickellmp.bsky.social's call in today's @theguardian.com for more resourcing to fight corruption in response to @thefinancelab.bsky.social's research👇 "It’s time to give our enforcement agencies the resources they need to crack down on the scourge of economic crime".

📣 The government’s announcement today that the UK’s Illicit Finance Summit is being delayed to December must be used as an opportunity for a bigger, better Summit with stronger proposals, clearer commitments and meaningful outcomes commensurate with the scale of the global illicit finance threat.

1. 😬 The Solicitors Regulation Authority has been ordered to pay up to £515,891 to foot the bill for Dentons – the world’s largest law firm. 🧵 caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewca/civ/202...

1. 🤦‍♀️ It is deeply concerning & frustrating that govt is once again being led down the garden path to reintroduce ‘golden visas’. Last summer, we wrote to the Chancellor with @ukanticorruptioncoalition.org highlighting golden visa’s illicit finance risks & lack of economic benefit. 🧵

1. 💪🏻 V welcome to see Sir Laurie Magnus – Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards – flex his muscles in policing the revolving door yesterday with his Grant Shapps letter – but the rules he has to police are hopelessly inadequate & need a major overhaul 🧵 www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...

1) 💥 NEW: It's very encouraging to hear the Justice Secretary David Lammy recommit to tackling SLAPPs – abusive legal tactics used by the rich and powerful to silence critics – but much more urgency is needed in delivering on this promise. 🧵

1. It is very welcome that the Enhancing Financial Services Bill in the #KingsSpeech will provide the legislation needed to strengthen our defences against dirty money in the UK.

Disappointed that #KingsSpeech said nothing about SLAPPs, which enable the powerful to stymy activists & stop journalists publishing stories in the public interest. The legal sector has successfully lobbied to sink efforts to legislate, for now. Excellent piece in the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social

1. 💰 We welcome the Standards Commissioner’s investigation into whether Nigel Farage should have declared a £5m gift from billionaire Christopher Harborne given shortly before he entered Parliament in 2024. 🧵 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Today is the #KingsSpeech, where the government will outline its priorities. We have a question: will they move to protect public interest speech and everyone's right to speak out? Stay tuned #StopSLAPPs

1. 👏 Great to see the Serious Fraud Office step up to a global leadership role by hosting an International Conference on Economic Crime last week. #EconomicCrime in the 21st century knows no borders so international cooperation is key to recovering stolen assets and bringing criminals to justice. 🧵

1. 📰 Timely story in @theguardian.com on the growing pressure for the government to deliver on its promises to tackle abusive legal threats, with the latest calls coming from 111 members of the House of Lords urging Keir Starmer to include anti-SLAPP legislation in the King’s Speech next week. 🧵

1. 👮 This is a really thoughtful big read from @financialtimes.com's Suzi Ring and Kaye Wiggins. With its Director unexpectedly retiring in March, and ongoing disclosure troubles following the recent collapse of a key prosecution, the Serious Fraud Office undoubtedly faces some major challenges. 🧵

1. Insightful piece from Wolfsberg Group Executive Secretary Ned Conway, arguing that proper investment upfront to roll out a single Anti-Money Laundering #AML rulebook for the EU will not only make it harder for criminals to do business but also make the EU more competitive in the long-run. 🧵

Excellent piece in @desmog.com, highlighting concerns about Nigel Farage amassing £2m in private earnings since becoming an MP. But it's not just about Farage - this is a system-wide issue that badly needs to be reformed. www.desmog.com/2026/05/06/n...

1. 🌟 Brilliant new report out from our friends at @taxwatch.bsky.social exposing how profit-shifting by oil trading giant Glencore Energy UK Ltd has blown up into a £1.5 billion tax dispute with HMRC that has dragged on for 15 years. 🧵 www.taxwatchuk.org/private-just...

📣 BREAKING: The Serious Fraud Office has struck a £10 million deal with UK defence giant Ultra Electronics, as the court today approves a Deferred Prosecution Agreement over the company’s bribery of Algeria and Oman. More detail and our take to follow!

1. 🪙 The first donations to a British political party from a memecoin mark a watershed and perilous moment. Political memecoins and crypto tokens pose incredible risks to the integrity of our democracy for which the UK appears wholly unprepared... 🧵 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Influential intervention from IPPR. We fully support a donation cap. It needs to come with annual spending caps too, to work as fairly as possible.

1. Big day for accountability yesterday. 👮 The government’s Crime and Policing Act came into law yesterday. It contains measures about protest which Spotlight on Corruption is deeply troubled by. But it also contains some hidden good bits which we are delighted to see put on the statute book. 🧵

🚨The MPs' code of conduct clearly shows that this £5m donation should have been declared to parliament straight after Farage was elected. But beyond this is the wider question of why the UK is still allowing limitless money into our election campaigns... 🧵 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

💰Gold is no longer simply a financial asset or commodity. It has become a strategic vehicle for organised crime, sanctions evasion, corruption, and political control. Its high value, portability, and suitability for money laundering attract criminal and corrupt actors.

🚨 Big blow for the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the credibility of the UK’s #Anti-MoneyLaundering (AML) regime as the Court of Appeal finds AML breaches by the world’s largest global law firm don’t automatically amount to professional misconduct.

📣 Synthesis of #GIACE research on illicit financial flows published ‘Fighting illicit financial flows: key learnings from GI ACE research’, authored by GI ACE Researcher @devipillay.co.za, synthesises publications produced by the CSC-hosted research programme between 2020 and February 2026.

[email protected] raises questions about access & influence around Keir Starmer’s top business adviser & links to Hakluyt. Spotlight’s Kamila Kingstone says it shows how blurred the lines are between private interests and gov - & why stronger transparency & conflict-of-interest rules are overdue.

Whether it's dodging tax, smuggling gold, or laundering drug money, corrupt actors and criminals rely on professionals to move, hide, and access their illicit wealth overseas. With key moments ahead - including the global Illicit Finance Summit in June - the message is clear: it’s time to act.

“Today’s revelations that No10 put the Foreign Office under pressure to put – not just one – but two political allies into key diplomatic roles points to a very concerning ‘jobs for mates’ culture and a deeply cavalier attitude to conflicts of interest..."

NEW from @desmog.com - Nigel Farage has personally accepted at least £675k from foreign governments, companies & donors since becoming an MP. But this isn’t just about one politician. It’s about gaping holes in the UK’s rules on foreign money & political influence. www.desmog.com/2026/04/18/n...

1.⚠️Today, mining giant ENRC goes to court to seek £215m from the Serious Fraud Office in compensation - which if successful would be equivalent to over double the SFO’s annual budget. ENRC is suing the SFO for alleged losses relating to its mishandling of a criminal probe the agency later dropped.

How can anti-corruption efforts help accelerate the transition to net zero & tackle environmental harm? What opportunities exist to foster greater cross-sector collaboration? All this & more was discussed at a parliamentary roundtable launching the ‘Clean and Green’ manifesto in March. Read more:

🚨Hugely significant development in sanctions enforcement to see British shipping financier John Ormerod charged with #money laundering and breach of Russia #sanctions, related to his alleged role in moving money linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers: www.ft.com/content/470b...

MPs advertising products on behalf of private companies, or being brand ambassadors, creates very real conflicts of interest. If the MPs code of conduct doesn't address this, then it's a major gap that needs to be addressed. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

❗ Big changes are coming soon to the regulations governing how UK firms mitigate and manage money laundering risks. Some are welcome but without robust supervision others could make the UK more vulnerable to dirty money. Read out blog to find out about the main changes and their likely impact 👇

📣 Spotlight on Corruption supports the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition’s calls for universal anti-SLAPP law in the forthcoming King’s Speech. This is a vital step towards protecting our right to speak out from legal bullies. #StopSLAPPs www.linkedin.com/posts/uk-ant...

📅 With the UK #IllicitFinanceSummit fast approaching on 23-24 June, the National Liberal Club is hosting a panel discussion tonight exploring how UK leadership can help turn the tide on dirty money.

📅 Ahead of the UK’s Illicit Finance Summit in June, join us on April 14 at the National Liberal Club to discuss combatting dirty money. Great to see UKACC member organisations represented by @suehawley.bsky.social and @duncanhames.bsky.social. 🎟️ Tickets here: members.nlc.org.uk/web/pages/ev...

💥 NEW: We welcome the government’s ‘complete ban’ on political crypto donations which hit the headlines last week, but there has since been speculation over just how comprehensive it will actually be. Here's our assessment of what needs to happen next ⬇️ www.spotlightcorruption.org/making-the-u...

📝 Great to see a letter from our director @suehawley.bsky.social published in @theguardian.com today, which highlights the findings of our new ‘Credible Deterrence’ report and the extent to which the enforcement of political finance laws in the UK has plummeted 📉 bit.ly/41E5Hsz

🔊The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has brought its first ever #McMafia Order vs 85 luxury London properties worth over £81m. It’s great to see the CPS using #UnexplainedWealthOrders which require Su Jiangbo- the owner of the properties according to the media - to explain the origin of his wealth.

⚠️ Here's our Defending Democracy policy lead, @kamilakingstone.bsky.social, on why the government's plans to raise the bar when including consultation responses in legislation risks stifling public voices when it comes to policymaking ⬇️ www.spotlightcorruption.org/the-governme...

👏 New rules on political donations are coming in the government’s Elections Bill - a lot of them are things campaigners like us have been pushing for. And the Rycroft Review this week - and some of the things that the government has already adopted - are important first steps....