The UK's Serious Fraud Office, whose reputation has been a chequered one, will not lose its identity for the time being. Home Secretary Amber Rudd has announced that it will, instead, be overseen by a new division of the National Crime Agency.

The Conservative and Unionist Party Manifesto 2017 states: "We will strengthen Britain’s response to white collar crime by incorporating the Serious Fraud Office into the National Crime Agency, improving intelligence sharing and bolstering the investigation of serious fraud, money laundering and financial crime." This has been hailed as the third attempt that Theresa May, the UK's premier, has made to abolish the body. Her previous two attempts occurred during her tenure as Home Secretary. Despite this, she has decided to reprieve the SFO, at least for the time being.

Instead of abolishing the office, then, HM Government will set up a National Economic Crime Centre as part of the NCA and this body will be able to instruct the SFO to pursue this-or-that case. The centre will direct its main efforts against money laundering - a crime for which the SFO has prosecuted defendants in the past. It will also oversee the efforts of the UK's police forces - these days little more than agents of the central government - against financial crime. A Home Office minister will be appointed to tackle financial crime as well, lending the whole initative some added political support.

Rudd was quoted recently as saying that she was targeting high-level crime, especially regarding "the billions that have been laundered through the City of London." She expressed a desire to make it very clear that the Government expected "higher standards of integrity in this country." She did not, however, neglect to mention everyday economic crime, adding: "I don’t know a single person who doesn’t know somebody who knows somebody who has been the victim of some sort of online fraud."

The Government website hails money laundering as "the most common offence in the UK that is estimated to cost every household £255 a year" and goes on to say: "[The new centre] will task and co-ordinate the national response to economic crime, backed by greater intelligence and analytical capabilities. It will draw on expertise from across government, law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, as well as new resources provided by the private sector. To further improve the co-ordination of the law enforcement response, new legislation will allow the NCA to directly task the SFO to investigate the worst offenders. The SFO will continue to act as an independent organisation, supporting the multi-agency response led by the NCA.

"The Home Secretary will personally chair a new economic crime strategic board to drive action. It will convene the relevant ministers from across government to agree strategic priorities."

In addition, the government has published its anti-corruption strategy which it hopes, if its uneasy dominance of the House of Commons survives, will be in effect by 2022. The strategy's six priorities are:

• a reduction of the "insider threat in high risk domestic sectors" such as borders and ports;
• a reduction of corruption in public procurement and grants;
• the promotion of 'integrity' all over the public and private sectors;
• 'stronger' integrity for the UK as an international financial centre;
• a better global business environment; and
• a desire to work with other countries to combat corruption.

To complement this, Mrs May has appointed John Penrose MP as her new anti-corruption 'czar.'

Perhaps most importantly for the HNW market, the Government seems to want to redouble its efforts in the field of asset seizure and forfeiture. It is going to set up a new working group which will include the NCA, the police (including devolved forces), HM Revenue and Customs, the Crown Prosecution Service and the SFO. It wants this group to "use the powers within the Criminal Finances Act for forfeiture of criminal money." The Law Commission will review the law of confiscation in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 with the aim of improving the process by which the authorities make and enforce confiscation orders.