Money laundering is a huge concern for UK law firms who are required to handle large sums of money.
Ensuring compliance, the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 have transposed the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive into UK law.
In an effort to further prevent money laundering, Law firms are now required to:
• Conduct money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessments;
• Implement systems, policies, controls and procedures to address money laundering and terrorist financing risks;
• Apply policies procedures and controls across the firm’s group structure;
• Adopt appropriate internal controls;
• Provide training to staff;
• Comply with new due diligence requirements;
• Comply with requirements relating to politically exposed persons; and
• Keep records of data protection systems, policies and procedures.
The Legal Sector Affinity Group have released Anti-Money Laundering Guidance for the Legal Sector in order to explain the new requirements and help law firms understand and comply with the regulations.