Accountancy Service Providers and Money Laundering Regulations

As a tax agent or adviser you must comply with anti-money laundering legislation by putting in place risk sensitive anti-money laundering policies and procedures to prevent your business from being used by money launderers and terrorists.

You must:

assess the risks of your business being used by criminals to launder money
check the identity of your clients
retain records and ensure you have appropriate internal management controls
monitor your clients' activities and report any suspicious activity to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)

You will also need to register with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) if you are not already supervised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) or a designated professional body.

On this page:

Registration with HMRC
Your day-to-day responsibilities under Money Laundering Regulations
Penalties, appeals and Money Laundering Regulations
More useful links

Registration with HMRC

Dependent on what work you carry out for clients, you may need to register with HMRC under Money Laundering Regulations as an Accountancy Service Provider or a Trust or Company Service Provider - or both.

Accountancy Service Providers are businesses that provide accountancy services, including the recording, review, analysis, calculation or reporting of financial information and advising on tax.

Trust or Company Service Providers are businesses that:

form companies or other legal entities
act or arrange for others to act as directors or company secretaries, or partners
provide registered offices, correspondence, business or administrative addresses for companies or partnerships
act or arrange for others to act as trustees of express trusts or similar arrangements
provide their services as nominee shareholder (unless they are acting for a company whose securities are listed on a regulated market)

Find out more about whether you need to register with HMRC under Money Laundering Regulations by following the link below.

Do you need to register with HMRC for Money Laundering Regulations?

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Your role under Money Laundering Regulations

You must have anti-money laundering policies and procedures in place within your business to prevent it being used for money laundering and terrorist financing.

These policies and procedures include:

assessing the risk of your business being used for money laundering
customer due diligence and ongoing monitoring of customers
internal controls
effectively communicating your policies and procedures within your business
appointing a 'nominated officer' for Money Laundering Regulations and training your employees
reporting suspicious transactions or activity to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)

More about your role under Money Laundering Regulations

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Penalties, appeals and Money Laundering Regulations

Penalties

If you don't comply with the Money Laundering Regulations, HMRC may impose a penalty. In more serious cases they may consider criminal prosecution.

Appealing against an HMRC decision

There may be occasions when you disagree with a decision made by HMRC. If this happens, you may be able to challenge the decision by asking for it to be reviewed or by appealing to an independent tribunal.

Appeals, penalties and Money Laundering Regulations

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