In March 2017, the government announced plans to launch an oversight function for supervisors of professional bodies.
The Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) is tasked to achieve greater cohesiveness and partnership between supervisory bodies and law enforcement authorities. It is charged with monitoring the activities of the 22 professional body supervisors and implementing uniform and detailed levels of supervision across sectors in order to improve overall money laundering standards.
It is proposed that OPBAS will operate within the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) existing governance arrangements.
AAT strongly supports the UK’s drive to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and recognises that establishing a consistent, risk based supervisory regime in the UK is paramount. We agree with the creation of an oversight function in pursuit of that aim, however we are of the opinion that the current proposal is unsustainable.
AAT’s key apprehension with the current proposal, which has previously been reported to the government, is that those not regulated by a professional body and supervised by HMRC will not fall within the scope of the oversight body. This will result in further inconsistency within the sector, thus failing to address the rationale for establishing such a function in the first place.
Although OPBAS is designed to reduce the amount of red-tape and confusion surrounding the practical implications of money laundering regulations, policies and procedures, as it currently stands, the creation of yet another supervisory body will unfairly add to the regulatory burden facing professional accountants who are members of professional bodies.
HM Treasury has issued a consultation on the operation and funding of OPBAS, accompanied by a set of draft regulations to establish powers of the FCA. The consultation contains eight questions in total.
The specific questions raised are very limited. However, AAT will be expressing its concerns regarding OPBAS oversight and the anticipated costs, which will be borne ultimately by members of the professional bodies.
AAT urges its member firms to participate in the consultation, and to provide their responses direct to HM Treasury before 17 August 2017.
The FCA has also launched a consultation regarding OPBAS. The consultation sets out draft expectations about how professional body supervisors can meet their obligations in relation to AML supervision. The FCA said it expects OPBAS to be up and running by the beginning of 2018 and for it to operate within the FCA’s existing governance arrangements. It will charge professional body supervisors a fee to recover its running costs.
The FCA will consult on an approach to levying fees as part of the FCA’s annual consultation on fees at the end of the year.