MLR1PP11130 - Penalty Guidance: What to include in a pre-penalty notice: 16-end

16. Details of any other action the business should take to become fully compliant. This must be included in the notice when other procedural weaknesses have been identified which currently are not serious enough to warrant a penalty. These are most likely to be newly identified weaknesses for which the business has not already received a warning. This is a warning to the business that in addition to correcting the breaches for which they have been penalised, they must also correct these weaknesses for which they are now being warned, otherwise these will be subject to a penalty in the future. This is effectively a warning letter embedded into a penalty notice. When such an embedded warning is appropriate the following wording should be used to avoid any confusion. Further information about warning letters can be found in MLR1PP6000 

"In addition to the breaches of the Regulations for which you are liable to a penalty. I have also identified other weaknesses in your anti-money laundering procedures which you should now correct. If these are not corrected you may be liable to a penalty or prosecution for any breaches which are a result of these weaknesses".
"I have enclosed a separate notification of the following details".
"The procedural weaknesses I have identified".
"The Regulation(s) which they relate to".
"The action you should now take to correct these and how long I am prepared to allow you to become compliant".
A notice in the same format as the warning letter must also be included.
If there is just one additional weakness for which a warning is being issued, this can be included as a narrative rather than in a separate schedule, with an appropriate amendment to the wording. Alternatively there are some circumstances when a separate warning letter may be more appropriate. When a separate warning letter is issued a separate covering letter should be sent to the business explaining why a warning and a penalty are being sent separately.

17. The pre-penalty letter must also include details of the right to request a Review and to Appeal against any penalty notice which is subsequently issued. The recommended wording to include is -

"If you still disagree with the penalty you will have 30 days from the date of the penalty notice to:

• ask for a review of the penalty, or
• if you do not want a review, you can appeal directly to an independent tribunal.

If you tell us that you want a review, the case will be reviewed by an independent team, who will notify you of the outcome, within 45 days unless we agree another time with you. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of this review you still have a right of appeal to a tribunal within 30 days of our letter telling you of the conclusions of our review"

18. Details of any previously suspended penalty which is now to be demanded. When it is appropriate to include this, a payslip should be issued. See MLR1PP10650 

Before the pre-penalty notice is issued approval should be obtained from the Countersigning Officer using the penalty checklist and input form in MLR1PP14550 

(This text has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)