AML / CFT: UK did nothing over Mubarak but now demands action to find his money

Egypt's Hosni Mubarak has been treated well by foreign governments during his 30 or so years in power despite an endless stream of human rights abuses.

The reason is simple: his iron grip on dissent prevented any swing towards Islam. And Egypt borders Israel. The last thing Israel and its supporters want is another Islamic state next door.

Egypt has provided Israel with a buffer zone and, under Mubarak, Egypt has more or less done Israel's bidding including making trans-shipment of goods difficult and obstructing border crossings.

With Mubarak gone, so has Egypt's tacit support for Israel.

Egypt is not Arab in the sense that Palestine and much of the middle east is. It has more in common with Turkey than with the UAE. In short, Egypt is north-African more than it is Middle Eastern.

And so, while he lorded over a country that could not rise up, Mubarak delivered something that western leaders wanted: he covered Israel's back.

That is why Mubarak's last ditch attempts to remain in power were so driven by his claims that his removal would lead to a take-over by The Muslim Brotherhood. He was not selling his message locally: he was soliciting foreign support.

But, as an ousted near-tyrant, Mubarak has few friends.

UK Minister Vince Cable says that Mubarak may have hidden "millions if not thousands of millions" in overseas accounts. As an ousted politician, his claims to diplomatic protection are void, it will be argued. Cable is demanding that all countries require their banks etc., to check if they have any money connected to him and, if so, to report it.

That falls short of freezing but if Cable gets his way and an international data exchange reveals a large sum hidden in various places, that will be the obvious next step.

The UK government says it has no power to act except at Egypt's specific request and, so far, no request has been made.

Cable is short-circuiting that. He says that more than 40 people in Egypt have had their assets frozen and travel restrictions placed on them. That, he implies, is enough to trigger suspicious transaction reporting. He's probably correct.

Under the UK's Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, if a suspicious transaction report is made, then accounts are frozen for a short time by an automatic process. So Cable, who says he thinks that it would enhance the reputation of UK banks if they froze Mubarak-connected accounts, can see that result without the need for specific action by the Treasury, Foreign Office or other department.

But Cable is behind the curve: on Friday last week Switzerland ordered its banks to identify and freeze any money or other property they could connect to Mubarak.

Reportedly, several countries in the Gulf have offered him sanctuary. He has several close friendships with Sultans in the region.

The race is on to find and freeze his money before he moves it to one of those countries.