Few would argue that there has recently been a substantial increase in the pressure being placed upon solicitors in relation to anti-money laundering compliance. Not only are we seeing a significant increase in the extent to which solicitors are being investigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, but we are also witnessing the imposition of far higher fines for non-compliance.
Given recent comments from the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) concerning weaknesses in the legal sector's supervision of anti-money laundering, it seems likely that this is something which will be with us for some considerable time.
In this third edition of Money Laundering Compliance for Solicitors we look at the anti-money laundering risks and obligations to which law firm personnel are subject and in particular at how the various statutory and regulatory provisions impact upon the work of solicitors. In particular we look not just at the basic AML regime but also at issues relating to Proliferation Financing, Sanctions and the Trust and Company Service Provider provisions. The book also addresses related issues including Mortgage Fraud, Anti-Bribery Legislation, Cybercrime and the Criminal Finances Act 2017.
Matthew Moore is a director of Infolegal, law firm consultants and training providers, and in addition to his advice work for firms on the topic of money laundering controls he is also involved in a number of other areas, including the SRA Standards and Regulations and quality management programmes such as Lexcel and ISO 9001. Diane Price was formerly Director of Compliance at a large firm of solicitors in Birmingham where she was responsible for setting up the firm's compliance function and spearheaded a key project to achieve and maintain ISO 9001.
