UK economic crime regime

This guide to the UK economic crime regime sets out information on the relevant legislation impacting solicitors and firms.

Money Laundering Regulations 2017
The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs 2017) set out the main anti-money laundering (AML) requirements for firms.

This legislation has been amended by the:

Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019, which came into force on 10 January 2020 and implemented broad changes to the MLRs
Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, which made narrow changes mainly to the requirements around trust registration
The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023 further amend the MLRs 2017 to require enhanced due diligence (EDD) on domestic politically exposed persons (PEPs) to be less than in relation to foreign PEPs (as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023).

The 2023 regulations come into force on 10 January 2024.

The other main pieces of legislation to be aware of are the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) and the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT), which set out the main requirements to report suspicious activity to the National Crime Agency and related offences.

Economic Crime Act 2022
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 introduced:

the register of overseas entities holding UK real estate
strengthened unexplained wealth orders
a strict civil liability test for monetary penalties for sanctions enforcement
Learn more about the Economic Crime Act 2022

Economic Crime Act 2023
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced:

a regulatory objective to the Legal Services Act 2007 on tackling economic crime
reforms to Companies House to prevent the creation of, and shutting down, fraudulent companies
reforms to prevent the abuse of limited partnerships
additional powers to seize and recover suspected criminal cryptoassets
a ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence
measures to address strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs)
Learn more about the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023

Criminal Justice Bill
The Criminal Justice Bill includes economic crime measures on:

reforming the confiscation regime to address concerns on complexity and enforcement
enabling a corporate body or partnership to be held criminally liable where a “senior manager commits non-economic crime related offences while acting within the actual or apparent authority granted by the organisation”
a voluntary suspended funds scheme to allow the financial sector to transfer monies that they hold suspended on suspicion of criminality to government
a ban on the possession and supply of “SIM farms”
law enforcement powers to block access to domain names and IP addresses used to conduct criminal activities

Article Credit: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/anti-money-laundering/uk-economic-crime-regime