The Home Office and HM Treasury have issued a joint action plan for combating anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) activities in the UK.
This action plan proposes significant change to the UK’s AML and CTF regimes and sends a clear message that the Government will not tolerate money laundering or the funding of terrorism through UK institutions. The action plan follows up on the FCA’s recent annual business plan where financial crime and AML was listed as one of seven priority areas. The regulator also warned firms that where it finds firms with material weaknesses in the AML controls, it will use enforcement powers to send a “deterrent message” to the industry.
The action plan is principally concerned with three priorities:
- creating new legal powers and building new capabilities for law enforcement agencies;
- reforming the supervisory regime and ensuring that companies who facilitate or enable money laundering are brought to task. The Government wants to maintain the UK’s strong regulatory regime by ensuring a risk-based approach to tackling money laundering and terrorist finance is in place, with the expectation that banks and other firms subject to the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 continue to take a proportionate approach by focusing more of their efforts on high risk clients; and
- increasing the UK’s international reach to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing threats by working with international groups, such as the G20 and Financial Action Task Force, to take action overseas.
Underpinning these three priorities, the pilot Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT) has brought together law enforcement agencies and ten banks under the leadership of the National Crime Agency to share information on money laundering and terrorist financing, with the aim of taking joint action to disrupt criminals and terrorists.
View Action plan for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist finance, 21 April 2016
