by

Matthew Moore and Diane Price

The pressures placed upon solicitors in relation to anti-money laundering compliance have grown substantially. Not only are we seeing a significant increase in investigations by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, but we are also seeing the imposition of far higher fines for non-compliance.

Given recent comments from the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) concerning weaknesses in the legal sector’s supervision of anti-money laundering, it seems likely that this is something which will be with us for some considerable time.

Now in its third edition, “Money Laundering Compliance for Solicitors” provides practical guidance for solicitors as to the anti-money laundering risks and obligations to which law firms and their personnel are subject. In particular it looks at:

• how the various statutory and regulatory provisions impact upon the work of solicitors,
• what firms need to do in order to ensure that they remain fully compliant,
• the requirements behind the current AML regime,
• what is expected of firms by the SRA,
• proliferation financing,
• sanctions,
• the Trust and Company Service Provider provisions, and
• related issues including mortgage fraud, anti-bribery legislation, cybercrime and the Criminal Finances Act 2017.