ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING REGULATIONS AND THE PROCEEDS OF CRIME

Anti-Money Laundering legislation is now a fact of life in the financial services industry and most individuals in the UK will have been asked at some point to present identification at the start of a financial relationship whether it is opening a new bank account or buying or selling an asset. The accountancy profession is an integral part of the financial world and we too have legal obligations placed upon us through various Acts of legislation, namely, the Money Laundering Regulations December 2007, The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and the Terrorism Act 2006.

Our obligations fall into two areas:

• Knowing and identifying all our clients, both new and existing, on the basis of independent documentation; and

• Reporting of suspicious transactions or where financial information indicates there may have been proceeds of a crime, firstly on an internal basis, and if deemed unusual for the client’s circumstances, onwards to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

With all new clients we will ask to see a copy of individuals’ passport or photo card driving licence, although, there are other forms of identification we can take if you do not hold these items, as well electronic identification where it is more suitable.

For existing clients that have used our services for many years and this might seem unusual, we still need to demonstrate that we have independent documentation on our files. Depending what documents we have on file, it might be that we ask clients to show us passports, photo card driving licences etc to make sure our files are fully compliant.

In respect of reporting procedures, there is little we can add other than it is a criminal offence with significant gaol sentences and fines for those individuals that help you with your financial affairs (whether professionally or non-professionally) if they fail to notice (knowingly or unknowingly) and report incidents that later transpires as illegal or benefitting from a crime.