The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) handed out over £13million in fines in June 2022 in relation to breaches of the Money Laundering Regulations (MLR). For firms with obligations under the MLR who are also regulated by the FCA, the regulator is a Supervisory Authority with the power to investigate and sanction criminal and civil breaches […]
When you write a due dilience policy from scratch, it is important to understand your aims and obligations. Identify if you have any specific regulations or industry requirements for the Know Your Customer Controls. Businesses with obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations will want to write a due diligence policy that ties in with their […]
Compliance with the MLR and HMRC Those in the accountancy sector are required to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations (MLR) in the UK. This includes accountants, tax advisers, bookkeepers and insolvency practitioners. Having an effective and compliant Anti Money Laundering Policy template can save time and money. Anti money laundering is an extensive compliance […]
What is Financial Crime? Financial crime, as defined by the FCA and FSMA is any kind of criminal conduct relating to money or to financial services or markets, including any offence involving: – (a) Fraud or dishonesty; or (b) Misconduct in, or misuse of information relating to, a financial market; or (c) Handling the proceeds […]
Know Your Compliance Limited have one of the UK’s largest portfolio of policy templates and procedures. Ready to use content, whilst also being fully customisable. Our market leading AML Policy Template also contains our highly recommended AML Risk Assessment Template for meeting the regulatory and legislative requirements in preventing financial crime. Our extensive Anti Money […]
Businesses and sole traders with obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations (MLR) are required to be regulated by a supervisory authority. These include bodies such as the FCA, HMRC, The Gambling Commission and certain professional bodies. Businesses operating as an accountancy service provider are overseen by the HMRC and in additon to the MLR obligations, have specific requirements they must comply with.
Where a business has obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations (MLR), they must use a risk-based approach to identify, assess and prevent money laundering. Carrying out an AML Risk Assessment involves several steps, which can include (but are not limited to): –
– Identifying the money laundering risks relevant to your business.
– Completing a company-wide risk assessment which includes areas such as delivery channels, transactions, products/services, customer behaviour etc.
– Assessing the risks associated with your customers.
Any policy within a business should start by defining what the included content covers. The introduction does not need to be extensive. However, it should give anyone referring to the policy sufficient information to understand what the policy relates to.
Money laundering is the term used to describe the process or act of disguising or hiding the original ownership of money that has been obtained through criminal acts such as terrorism, corruption or fraud. Such monies are then moved through legitimate businesses or sources to make it appear ‘clean’.
Most firms will have an Outsourcing Policy Template that is used to document their objectives and procedures for outsourced services and functions. The term ‘outsourcing’ refers to any business function or service that is provided by, or contracted out to an external provider or supplier.
Common examples of functions that are outsourced or are provided by an external supplier include postal and mailing services; shredding and confidential waste disposal; IT services and disaster recovery; debt collection and translations.
Businesses with anti money laundering obligations are required to carry out a risk assessment. Most importantly, the aim of this is to identify, assess and mitigate risks associated with financial crime. The FCA and HMRC are two of the bodies acting as supervisory authorities for the MLR. For instance, both have rules and guidance on the risk assessment process.