Last September HM Treasury issued a consultation concerning the transposition of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4MLD). The consultation outlined how the UK Government intended to implement the 4MLD and the Fund Transfer Regulation. The consultation closed on 10 November 2016.
HM Treasury has now published a document that outlines the responses submitted and the UK Government’s policy positions following the consultation. A number of key decisions have emerged from the consultation including:
- a requirement for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to act as the registry authority for all trust and company service providers, who are not registered by HMRC themselves or the FCA;
- an extension of the fit and proper test to agents of money service businesses, which will be carried out by HMRC;
- retaining letting agents within the scope of the new Regulations (see below) where they carry out estate agency work within section 1 of the Estate Agents Act 1979 (as amended);
- that when a trust or company service provider is asked to form a company, this is to be treated as a business relationship whether or not the formation is the only transaction being carried out for that customer;
- the exemption of all gambling service providers from the requirements of the 4MLD, except remote and non-remote casinos; and
- a decision not to allow pooled client accounts to be automatically subject to simplified due diligence, but instead for this to be applied on a risk based approach.
HM Treasury has also published for comment a draft of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the new Regulations). The deadline for comments on the new Regulations is 12 April 2017. The new Regulations replace the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and the Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2007 with updated provisions that implement in part the 4MLD and the Funds Transfer Regulation.
The UK Government has also unveiled plans for a new Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) that will work with professional bodies to help, and ensure, compliance with anti-money laundering regulations. The OPBAS will be hosted by the FCA. It will carry out this function separately from its existing supervisory work, and it will be funded through a new fee on professional body supervisors that the FCA will consult on in due course. The Government has issued a call for information, welcoming views on the OPBAS’s mandate and powers by 4 April 2017.
View UK tightens defences against money laundering, 15 March 2017
View Open consultation – Money Laundering Regulations 2017, 15 March 2017
