New money laundering rules

Changes to the money laundering regulations will affect certain businesses from 15^th December, HMRC has warned.

The new rules will affect trust or company service providers, which include recruitment agencies; company formation agents; suppliers of accommodation or correspondence addresses; telephone answering service providers; and people acting as professional trustees.

Those businesses affected will have an obligation to carry out checks on customers' identity, identify the risk of money-laundering posed by a customer and report suspicious activity to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

"The money laundering regulations aim to safeguard firms from abuse by criminals, while also making it easy to comply, with the minimum impact on business," said HMRC's business director, money laundering regulations, Melissa Tatton.

"It is in everyone's interest to ensure effective anti-money laundering controls and sufficient scrutiny is in place. The changes aren't far away, so if you haven't started preparing for 15 December, you need to do so now."

For more information visit www.hmrc.gov.uk/mlr