On 21 July 2022, there was published The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2022.

Unless otherwise stated, the Regulations come into force on 1 September 2022.

The Regulations make a number of changes to The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs 2017) in light of HM Treasury’s response document setting out the steps the Government proposes to take amending the MLRs 2017 following its consultation in October 2021.

In particular the Regulations insert a new Part 7A into the MLRs 2017 to expand the information sharing standard for wire/bank transfers to transfers involving cryptoassets (referred to as the “Travel Rule”). The UK intends to take a tailored approach to meeting international Travel Rule requirements. Amendments will be made to the MLRs 2017 rather than the onshored Funds Transfer Regulation (FTR), which implemented the Financial Action Task Force’s Recommendation 16 for transfers of funds, as the FTR is retained EU law and cannot be amended via secondary legislation to include cryptoassets.