Dubious honour – the solicitor MLRO

David Corker may be contacted on tel: +44 (0) 20 7353 6000; email law@corkerbinning.co.uk

Solicitors, says David Corker, a partner at Corker Binning, are most likely to fall foul of section 328 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 , under which “A person commits an offence if he enters into or becomes concerned in an arrangement which he knows or suspects facilitates (by whatever means) the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property by or on behalf of another person.”“This can include just giving advice rather than actually having the money,” he told delegates at the recent Lexis Nexis event, ‘Interpreting and applying Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act’, “Even signing a deed would be sufficient so it’s a very easy offence to commit.” The failure to report offence under section 330 is perhaps a lesser concern, he suggested. It requires knowledge or suspicion or reasonable grounds to know or suspect that another is engaged in money laundering, based on information obtained in the course of business in the regulated sector. In respect of statutes that call for exercise of reasonable judgement, “the courts have generally afforded a wide margin of appreciation when the individual has made an honest, diligent attempt to comply with the law,” noted Mr Corker. “They don’t have an agenda against solicitors,” he added.