Changes to Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
New changes were introduced to the current Money Laundering Regulations 2017 from 1 April 2023. Money Laundering Regulations apply to many business types - typically this includes law firms but also includes accountants, financial service businesses, estate agents and more. If MLR applies, your business needs to be monitored by a supervisory authority.
The changes are introduced via the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 and mean that any businesses that are subject to the MLRs now must comply with the enhanced obligations, or face a fine or potentially imprisonment for non-compliance.
The enhanced obligations include:
- a requirement to comply with checks of the register of overseas entities (ROE) at Companies House for dealings with corporate entities, or, for trust entities, the trust registration service (TRS) maintained by HMRC
- changes to the duty to report discrepancies to company registries where
- the discrepancy is “material” – not a typo or minor spelling mistake
- the discrepancy “by its nature and having regard to all the circumstances, may reasonably be considered” to:
- be linked to money laundering or terrorist financing, or
- conceal details of the customer’s business
There is also the requirement to carry out proliferation financing risk assessments and to maintain appropriate controls and procedures. Anyone caught by the MLR should do a revised analysis of their practices and procedures to ensure they are now complying with the enhanced requirements and obligations.
Businesses will want to keep an eye on the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill which suggests further, substantive, reforms are in the pipeline.
Posted on 04/04/2023 by Ortolan
