Clifford Chance

Tough on money laundering…and on the EU: UK authorities chart their course on AML policy

15 August 2012

The trend of tough enforcement by UK anti-money laundering ("AML") authorities has continued in recent weeks. The Financial Services Authority ("FSA") has taken further action and the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") has imposed its first significant fine for breaches of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 ("MLR"). The UK's commitment to tough deterrence has also been underlined by HM Treasury's ("HMT's") review of MLR, which has resulted in the retention of criminal sanctions for breaches and the bolstering of accompanying regulatory powers. At the same time, the UK response to EU proposals shows that it is resistant to delegating responsibility for developing policy to EU institutions.

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