Regulated businesses hit with Anti-Money Laundering fines

Posted on 20th June 2023 by Streets - HMRC notices

The Money Laundering Regulations (MLR) are designed to protect the UK financial system and put in place certain controls to prevent businesses being used for money laundering by criminals and terrorists.

HMRC has named 240 supervised businesses that have been fined a total of £3.2 million for not complying with the anti-money laundering rules. The fines were issued between 1 July and 31 December 2022 for breaches of the regulations designed to stop criminals laundering money from illegal activity.

One of the businesses, based in London, was hit with a large fine of £1.4 million for failing to carry out risk assessments, not having appropriate anti-money laundering controls, and failing to conduct proper due diligence checks.

This crackdown on money service businesses has resulted in a significant reduction in these types of firms over the last number of years.

HMRC is clear that money service businesses provide vital services to the community, offering currency exchange, money transmission and cheque cashing. However, criminals can exploit them to launder the proceeds of crime and so must have a robust risk assessment and policies, controls, and procedures to prevent this.

No Advice

The content produced and presented by Streets is for general guidance and informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice. Furthermore, it should not be considered a recommendation or an offer to sell, or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities or other form of financial asset. The information provided by Streets is of a general nature and is not specific for any individual or entity. Appropriate and tailored advice or independent research should be obtained before making any such decisions. Streets does not accept any liability for any loss or damage which is incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of obtaining Streets' visual or audible content.

Information

The content used by Streets has been obtained from or is based on sources that we believe to be accurate and reliable. Although reasonable care has been taken in gathering the necessary information, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information we publish and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions in material. You should always seek specific advice prior to making any investment, legal or tax decisions.