MacPhee & Partners

Money Laundering Regulations (Update)

Money Laundering Regulations (Update) 2007

Financial and professional businesses like banks and solicitors firms are attractive to money launderers – criminals who try to hide stolen money by turning it into legitimate income or making it harder to detect and confiscate. The first step in the laundering process is for criminals to get their money into an account with a bank or building society, often using false identity and address. The original legislation to regulate such matters was introduced in 2002 (Proceeds of Crime Act) and 2002 Money Laundering Regulations and was recently
updated with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.

The Government has introduced these measures to (a) make it more difficult for criminals to keep money from their crimes; and (b) to confiscate the proceeds of crime. As a result of this, solicitors are required to make various compulsory checks of their clients. As part of our initial and indeed ongoing dealings with you, it is necessary for us to ask you to prove your
identity, and produce evidence of your place of residence.

So that we can confirm your identity, we need to see evidence of your identity and address. The documents you can provide to prove your identity are as follows:-

PRIMARY IDENTIFICATION
Full National Passport
Full National Driving Licence
Pension Book
Armed Forces ID Card
Signed ID card of employer known to you
Young persons NI card (under 18 only)
Pensioners travel pass
Building Society passbook
Credit Reference Agency Search
National ID Card
Copy Company Certificate of Incorporation

SECONDARY IDENTIFICATION
Gas, electricity, telephone bill
Mortgage Statement
Council Tax Demand
Bank/BS/Credit Card Statement
Young persons medical card (under 18 only)

In all instances, we will need to see the original documents. Certain other additional checks may need to be made depending on the nature of the business and the client involved.

The Money Laundering Regulations and Proceeds of Crime legislation extend to all criminal conduct, no matter how petty. They make no distinction between criminal conduct involving £10 or £10,000,000. Penalties for breach of the legislation include the possibility of a prison sentence of up to 15 years. We are obliged to make suspicious activity reports to the
Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), where a solicitor knows or suspects the transaction on behalf of a client might involve money laundering. If this happens, we may not be able to inform you that it is being made, or of the reasons, because the law prevents this.

If you require any more information about our Money Laundering Policy, please contact the Money Laundering Reporting Officer, Mrs Rosemary MacPhee.

Please note that in no circumstances are we able to accept or hold cash sums on behalf of clients in excess of £500.

Finally, please be assured that in complying with the above procedures and terms of the current legislation and Law Society of Scotland guidelines, we are committed to upholding the laws and protecting the interests of all our clients.

February 2008

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