Money Laundering Regulatons

Posted by: MichaelC on 13 November 2003

Are there individuals out there caught by the need to observe the forthcoming Money Laundering Regulations? If so, have you considered when a report should be made to the NCIS?

I would be interested to hear any views particularly at what point a report should be made.

This follows on from a conversation I had the night before with an officer in police intelligence.

Regards

Mike
Posted on: 13 November 2003 by matthewr
The new regs have completely buggered my previosuly cosy arrangement with the Russian Mafia.

Matthew
Posted on: 14 November 2003 by Top Cat
I have to do the ML regs every few months or so (due to what I do). Basically, as you can be held liable for not suspecting that ML was taking place when a 'reasonable person' would have suspected, you can be done for it.

However, I work in the industry and our regs are different from those of the general public, which in turn are different from... you get the picture?

If you are more specific, and if you're working in an FSA-regulated organisation, I can help. Otherwise, try doing a google search for money +laundering +FSA +UK

John

TC '..'
"Sun went down in honey. Moon came up in wine. Stars were spinnin' dizzy, Lord, the band kept us so busy we forgot about the time."
Posted on: 14 November 2003 by stevie d
Michael

Here is a link to the FSA website. Search for Money Laundering and it may help you decide if you want to report a ML offence. Basically you can be in as much trouble for not reporting an incident as the person who commited the act. If in doubt, report it.

FSA

Stevie
Posted on: 14 November 2003 by Tim Oldridge
"If in doubt, report it."

Yup. Good advice. Our compliance officer had to report two things last Friday. He apologised for that and was told that it wasn't unusual for the larger (perfectly respectable) financial institutions to average ten or so reports a day.

T
Posted on: 17 November 2003 by MichaelC
I have been looking in detail at the forthcoming money laundering regulations - this was prompted by recently coming across a matter which, in my view, was a deliberate act - leading to my completion of a report to NCIS.

I am an accountant in practice for my sins.

My understanding of the forthcoming money laundering regulations is that a report is required to NCIS on the basis of knowledge or suspicion that a client or others have committed (or are committing) a money laundering offence. This could take the form of tax evasion amongst many other forms of offence.
Furthermore, there is no de-minimis limit governing the requirement to report.

I have a couple of questions for which many people have elsewhere, apparently, different views:

1. If a client or other person makes a mistake and that mistake is corrected upon it's discovery (either by the client or my firm) should this be reported? The mistake, for example, could arise in the instance of a submitted Tax Return or a submitted VAT Return. My view is that it should not be reported. Am I correct?

2. On the otherhand. If a mistake is brought to the attention of a client and the client takes no action to correct that mistake then my view is that it should be reported. Am I correct?


Changing tack slightly - I understand that The Procceds of Crime Act requires a report where there are proceeds of a crime and thus if there are no proceeds of a crime then no report is due. Whereas forthcoming Money Laundering Regulations require that all crime is reported. So does this extend to offences such as late filing of accounts [S242(2)CA1985] or certain loans to directors [S342CA1985]? These are offences under the Companies Act 1985 and therefore represent crimes in accordance with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

I would be intrigued to hear views in respect of this.

Regards

Mike