Anti Money Laundering

From 15 December 2007 the Money Laundering Regulations published by the UK Government on 25 July 2007 require certain businesses to register with their relevant money laundering supervisor, have systems in place to prevent money laundering and to report suspicious transactions. These measures require firms to ensure they know exactly who their customers are.  This includes conducting customer identification and verification and performing ongoing monitoring where relevant.  Records of identify must be kept and staff must be trained on the requirements of the Regulations.

What businesses do these Regulations cover?

These are most UK businesses and professional advisers that handle money  These are: banks, buildings societies, money transmitters, bureaux de change, cheque cashers, savings and investment firms.  In addition the Regulations cover legal professionals (when undertaking certain activities), accountants, tax advisers, auditors, insolvency practitioners, estate agents, casinos, high value dealers when dealing in goods worth over 15,000 Euros and trust or company service providers.

Where can I find further information?

Full details of H M Treasury's position and some useful PDFs can be found by clicking onto the money laundering area of the HM Treasury site. HMRC's Beginners Guide to the Money Laundering Regulations also provides a clear guide and this can be found on the money laundering area of the HMRC site.

Registration and supervision

If your firm needs to be supervised for the first time, you must contact your money laundering supervisor.  This will depend on what sort of firm you are and each supervisor will be able to supply further information and the relevant areas of their websites supply details of who comes under their jurisdiction.  These include:

Financial Services Authority

Gambling Commission (for casinos)

HM Revenue and Customs

Some of the accountancy bodies, the Solicitors Regulatory Authority and the Bar Council also act as supervisory bodies and you can find a full list in the Regulations available from the HM Treasury site.

The Waterlow AML Compliance Centre

If  you are worried about the implication of the new Regulations, why not sign up for further information about the Waterlow AML Compliance Centre.  To register your interest, simply complete this no obligation registration form for details of our one-stop shop to full compliance.