Money laundering – are your procedures up to date?

Financial institutions have faced increasing levels of anti-money laundering legislation in recent years. The latest new law is the Money Laundering Regulations 2003, which, after significant delay, were published in December 2003, and came into force on 1 March 2004. They replace the Money Laundering Regulations 1993 and 2001, and implement the Second EU Money Laundering Directive. Publication of the Regulations allowed the long-awaited release of the 2003 edition of the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) Guidance Notes for the Financial Sector at the end of January 2004, which give practical direction to the financial sector on complying with their obligations under the legislation. In this article Emma Radmore and Kirsty Gibson of Denton Wilde Sapte provide an overview of some of the main changes for financial institutions.

What’s new in the Regulations?

The good news for anyone whose business was covered by the 1993 Regulations is that there are relatively few significant changes in the new 2003 Regulations, as the main revisions are directed at bringing new classes of persons such as accountants, lawyers, estate agents and dealers in high value good within their scope. However, there are some additions to previous requirements, and some changes of emphasis, so all firms should review their procedures.