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<p>The Treasury has worked closely with industry and regulators to ensure that remittances
continue to flow from the UK to Somalia.</p><p>The Treasury plays a leading role in
the Action Group on Cross-Border Remittances, which brings together participants from
industry, Government, regulators and international partners to maintain a continued
dialogue on the withdrawal of banking services from the money service business sector,
in order to develop a shared understanding of the expectations of all parties and
help support remittance flows.</p><p>Over the past two years, the Action Group has
overseen a number of initiatives to boost compliance in the Money Service Business
(MSB) sector, and to give greater confidence to banks offering services to this sector:</p><ul><li><p>The
group has worked closely with the supervisors to develop revised guidance for the
MSB sector, and for those offering banking services to the sector, including a statement
from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in April 2015 clarifying the FCA’s expectations
with regards to Banks’ management of money-laundering risk.</p></li><li><p>The National
Crime Agency has worked collaboratively with the banking and MSB sectors to improve
understanding and manage risk.</p></li><li><p>Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC),
the supervisor of MSBs, more than doubled the number of compliance visits to MSBs
in 2014, and launched an e-learning product to improve MSBs’ understanding of their
obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations.</p><p>Alongside this work in the
UK, the Government is also supporting targeted capacity building in Somalia, delivered
through the World Bank. This includes a specific focus on improving regulation of
the Somali remittance sector and supporting the drafting and introduction of necessary
financial crime legislation. This goes hand-in-hand with our longer term programme
to support the formalisation of the financial sector in Somalia.</p><p>These actions
both in the UK and Somalia are intended to safeguard the vital remittances that flow
between the two countries. The Action Group continues to monitor UK-Somalia remittance
corridor closely and is reassured that there is currently no evidence to date of an
interruption in the flow of remittances between the UK and Somalia, or any significant
increase in remittance costs. This is a resilient and responsive market and the Government
remains committed to supporting it and the diaspora communities that rely on these
services.</p><p>Updates on the work of the Action Group can be found on the gov.uk
website:</p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/action-group-on-cross-border-remittances</p></li></ul>
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