To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letters from the Chair of the House of Commons Treasury Committee to the Financial Conduct Authority and the National Economic Crime Centre on 15 October 2020, how many banks have been (1) investigated, and (2) prosecuted, for forging customer signatures.

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letters from the Chair of the House of Commons Treasury Committee to the Financial Conduct Authority and the National Economic Crime Centre on 15 October 2020, how many banks have been (1) investigated, and (2) prosecuted, for forging customer signatures.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the letters from the Chair of the House of Commons Treasury Committee to the Financial Conduct Authority and the National Economic Crime Centre on 15 October 2020, how many banks have been (1) investigated, and (2) prosecuted, for forging customer signatures.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the letters from the Chair of the House of Commons Treasury Committee to the Financial Conduct Authority and the National Economic Crime Centre on 15 October 2020, how many banks have been (1) investigated, and (2) prosecuted, for forging customer signatures.

My Lords, the National Economic Crime Centre continues to assess the material submitted to it in relation to alleged signatory fraud by banks, as well as information obtained following preliminary inquiries to clarify matters with certain members of the public who raised the issue. The National Economic Crime Centre is making a thorough assessment to determine whether there are grounds for a criminal investigation.

My Lords, the National Economic Crime Centre continues to assess the material submitted to it in relation to alleged signatory fraud by banks, as well as information obtained following preliminary inquiries to clarify matters with certain members of the public who raised the issue. The National Economic Crime Centre is making a thorough assessment to determine whether there are grounds for a criminal investigation.

My Lords, that characterisation of the situation is not entirely fair. The NECC is reviewing the evidence submitted to it by the campaign groups. We cannot comment further at this stage, recognising the NECC’s operational independence.

Once it has finished its review, it will communicate its findings. The noble Lord referred to the 26 lever-arch files; these actually contain 10,000 pages of evidence in seven staggered submissions, the last set of which was delivered in March 2021. This was subsequently referred to the various subject-matter experts at the SFO and the FCA. These are complex matters and they take time.

My Lords, that characterisation of the situation is not entirely fair. The NECC is reviewing the evidence submitted to it by the campaign groups. We cannot comment further at this stage, recognising the NECC’s operational independence.

Once it has finished its review, it will communicate its findings. The noble Lord referred to the 26 lever-arch files; these actually contain 10,000 pages of evidence in seven staggered submissions, the last set of which was delivered in March 2021. This was subsequently referred to the various subject-matter experts at the SFO and the FCA. These are complex matters and they take time.

I am afraid that I cannot; I am not familiar with the case. As I said, we maintain that the NECC should have operational independence, so I am afraid that I cannot enlighten the noble Baroness any further. I neglected to answer the noble Lord’s request for a meeting; there have been a number of meetings with Home Office officials, but I would of course be happy to meet him.

I am afraid that I cannot; I am not familiar with the case. As I said, we maintain that the NECC should have operational independence, so I am afraid that I cannot enlighten the noble Baroness any further. I neglected to answer the noble Lord’s request for a meeting; there have been a number of meetings with Home Office officials, but I would of course be happy to meet him.

My Lords, I am glad that the noble Lord has raised the subject of resources, because we are giving them: the spending review last year allocated a further £400 million to tackle economic crime over the next three years. This includes £100 million earmarked specifically to target fraud, including by establishing a national fraud policing network, including greater fraud investigative capacity in the NCA, meeting a manifesto commitment to create a new national cybercrime force focused on fraud. In addition, new fraud investigation teams have been piloted in four regional organised crime units, which will be expanded and rolled out across all ROCUs. These new capabilities are driven by a new tasking and co-ordination process run by the NECC. Finally, as part of the police uplift, we are prioritising more investigators for the City of London Police, which leads on this.

My Lords, I am glad that the noble Lord has raised the subject of resources, because we are giving them: the spending review last year allocated a further £400 million to tackle economic crime over the next three years. This includes £100 million earmarked specifically to target fraud, including by establishing a national fraud policing network, including greater fraud investigative capacity in the NCA, meeting a manifesto commitment to create a new national cybercrime force focused on fraud. In addition, new fraud investigation teams have been piloted in four regional organised crime units, which will be expanded and rolled out across all ROCUs. These new capabilities are driven by a new tasking and co-ordination process run by the NECC. Finally, as part of the police uplift, we are prioritising more investigators for the City of London Police, which leads on this.

My Lords, the noble Baroness is referring to Action Fraud, which is receiving some funding—but the money is ring-fenced from another source. I cannot find the precise reference to it

now, but I will write to her with the details. However, it is not from Lloyds Bank directly.

My Lords, the noble Baroness is referring to Action Fraud, which is receiving some funding—but the money is ring-fenced from another source. I cannot find the precise reference to it

now, but I will write to her with the details. However, it is not from Lloyds Bank directly.

My Lords, that was a completely different case, of course. But we are doing a number of things, as the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, will be aware. Some of this is legislative and some of it is to do with the various taskforces and strategies that I highlighted to some extent earlier. A Joint Fraud Taskforce was set up in October 2021.

My Lords, that was a completely different case, of course. But we are doing a number of things, as the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, will be aware. Some of this is legislative and some of it is to do with the various taskforces and strategies that I highlighted to some extent earlier. A Joint Fraud Taskforce was set up in October 2021.

My Lords, my noble friend is right to raise the changing nature of some of these crimes. I am sure that she is partly referring to the UKFI report on fraud, published earlier this week, which showed that some types of fraud are in fact diminishing while others are increasing. A number of actions are being taken: for example, I am sure that noble Lords were surprised to note that the text messages that we used to receive seem to have diminished somewhat, which is partly a response to work done by the telecoms companies. The National Cyber Security Centre has also launched its suspicious email reporting service to remove harmful scams from online. Since April 2020, it has taken down 81,000 scams across 147,000 URLs.

My Lords, my noble friend is right to raise the changing nature of some of these crimes. I am sure that she is partly referring to the UKFI report on fraud, published earlier this week, which showed that some types of fraud are in fact diminishing while others are increasing. A number of actions are being taken: for example, I am sure that noble Lords were surprised to note that the text messages that we used to receive seem to have diminished somewhat, which is partly a response to work done by the telecoms companies. The National Cyber Security Centre has also launched its suspicious email reporting service to remove harmful scams from online. Since April 2020, it has taken down 81,000 scams across 147,000 URLs.

My Lords, I do not think it is just about officials; it is also about legislation. Obviously, we passed one Act earlier this year at speed. The noble Lord will be aware that there is another economic crime and corporate transparency Bill on its way which deals with many of the unresolved issues from those debates and that Act.

My Lords, I do not think it is just about officials; it is also about legislation. Obviously, we passed one Act earlier this year at speed. The noble Lord will be aware that there is another economic crime and corporate transparency Bill on its way which deals with many of the unresolved issues from those debates and that Act.

I am afraid that I cannot answer that question; I will try to find out and write to the noble Lord.

I am afraid that I cannot answer that question; I will try to find out and write to the noble Lord.

I agree with my noble friend. We are straying away from the Home Office brief on this subject. Obviously, the Financial Services Act 2012 established the FCA as the conduct of business regulator for financial services. It has a focused set of objectives to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers, to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers and to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system, but I absolutely agree that proportionality has to be a part of that.

I agree with my noble friend. We are straying away from the Home Office brief on this subject. Obviously, the Financial Services Act 2012 established the FCA as the conduct of business regulator for financial services. It has a focused set of objectives to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers, to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers and to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system, but I absolutely agree that proportionality has to be a part of that.

I am afraid that I have to refer the noble Lord back to my earlier answer about the operational independence of the NECC. I do not know what the evidential situation is. How can I possibly answer the question?

I am afraid that I have to refer the noble Lord back to my earlier answer about the operational independence of the NECC. I do not know what the evidential situation is. How can I possibly answer the question?