Amendments to the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 Statutory Instrument 2022

AAT understands and supports the desire to expand intelligence sharing through the supervisor-to-supervisor gateway, which is currently limited. This will help support AAT’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) supervisory activities by allowing for confidential and protected information and intelligence to be disclosed from relevant authorities, especially law enforcement agencies to supervisory authorities. This can be used to support and enhance the supervision of individuals/firms, increase knowledge and understanding of risks and threats within AAT’s supervised sectors.

Whilst providing supervisors with the ability to collect and view the content of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) is considered useful as part of the monitoring approach, there is not enough information on what specific legal obligations will be placed on AML/CTF supervisors when reviewing any SARs obtained from their supervised population. Without clarity as to what expectations and obligations are to be set for supervisors in reviewing the content of SARs, it may lead to an inconsistent approach being taken across AML/CTF supervisors.

AAT welcomes the expansion of Regulation 30A and the proposed aligning of beneficial ownership discrepancy reporting obligations, to the ongoing obligation on relevant persons to carry out customer due diligence on the beneficial ownership of their clients. The proposed reforms and the additional checks that are to be carried out on information before and after registration at Companies House means supervisors, as well as businesses of all sizes, will benefit from being able to take greater assurance from the register. This further enhances the accuracy and reliability of the companies register, establishing values and procedures that promote constant vigilance and respect for regulatory obligations, creating greater transparency and good governance.