The elephant in the room: assessing money laundering risks in the UK construction industry

Money laundering is a pervasive phenomenon in several sectors of the economy, from banking to the art market, from real estate to luxury goods. In recent years, growing concerns have been raised about money laundering transactions in a less investigated sector: the construction industry. Looking at the integration of money laundering in legitimate businesses, this sector emerges as one of the most critical for criminal infiltrations. The construction sector is a capital-intensive, growing market in the UK, with £138 billion in value and 3.1 million people employed. Moreover, managers and decision-makers operating in this industry do not always have a proper understanding of the money laundering risks associated with their activities. For instance, in 2020, a YouGov survey found that 97% of the construction companies involved in the study felt at risk of money laundering but were reluctant to act to minimise this risk.

This project focuses on money laundering in the UK  construction sector. It aims to obtain practice-based research findings and create a partnership with relevant stakeholders from the UK construction industry to answer their business needs on money laundering prevention and regulation implementation.