With the government producing figures showing law enforcement agencies seized a record £285 million through civil and criminal asset recovery powers last year, Syed Rahman assessed the situation.

In a piece published by Thomson Reuters’ Regulatory Intelligence, Syed argues that the real question is whether the figure of £285 million represents a turning point in the UK’s fight against financial crime or is just another headline that conceals how far there is still to go.

He compares the recently-produced statistics with the National Crime Agency’s estimate of £12 billion being generated annually by crime in the UK. Syed says that while there are “some positives to be accentuated”, the new figures do not tell the full story.

He concludes that real progress will only be made “when headline statistics are matched by a sustained commitment to resourcing enforcement appropriately”.