Even the best anti-corruption laws are useless if they aren’t enforced. That’s why Spotlight continues to advocate robustly for increased funding of the UK’s economic crime fighting agencies.
From our landmark 2022 report on the UK’s economic crime enforcement gap, through our more recent Enforcement reports series and direct engagement with senior officials and ministers, we have consistently made the case for increased funding for law enforcement.
In 2025 – despite enormous pressure on the public finances – we saw uplifts for three key agencies: the Serious Fraud Office, the National Crime Agency’s International Corruption Unit and the City of London Police’s Domestic Corruption Unit. The Economic Crime Levy was also increased to fund anti-money laundering efforts.
Alongside partners such as the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax, we continue to advocate for a long-term solution to the funding of economic crime enforcement through the creation of an “Economic Crime Fighting Fund”. The ECFF would redirect a proportion of fines and assets recovered from criminals back to agencies’ budgets to enable them to invest in the capabilities they need to take the fight to kleptocrats, money launderers and organised crime bosses.
