Share your opinions on the effectiveness of the Money Laundering Regulations

The government is consulting on changes to improve regulations while minimising burdens on legitimate customers, and it wants to hear from you.

HM Treasury has published a consultation on improving the effectiveness of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the MLRs). These place requirements on a range of businesses to identify and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

This consultation principally covers already-identified issues with the MLRs. One example is the 2022 Review of the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulatory and supervisory regime. This review found the core requirements of the regulations mostly fit for purpose, but recognised some technical changes could be made to increase effectiveness and ensure proportionality for both regulated firms and customers.

The consultation also includes issues put forward by key stakeholders, such as the anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing supervisors, the regulated industries and their representative bodies, which could reduce burdens and make the regulations more effective at tackling economic crime.

Four core themes

1. Making customer due diligence more proportionate and effective
2. Strengthening system coordination
3. Providing clarity on scope of the MLRs
4. Reforming registration requirements for the Trust Registration Service.

Make your voice heard

HM Treasury is keen to hear from a wide range of stakeholders in response to the consultation, including regulated businesses and their customers, supervisory bodies, law enforcement agencies, civil society organisations and members of the public.

The consultation document sets out a number of ways to respond to the consultation. This includes answering the questions via the online form Improving the Effectiveness of the Money Laundering Regulations.

While the consultation is open, HM Treasury is holding a series of virtual, working-level events to discuss the consultation with interested stakeholders. It closes at 11:59pm on 9 June 2024. You can find out more on the GOV.UK consultation page.

Cost of Compliance Survey

In parallel with this consultation, HM Treasury is running a survey on the cost of compliance with the MLRs. This will help the government better understand how regulated businesses comply with the regulations and to assess the impact of future changes to the MLRs.

HM Treasury is keen to receive responses from a wide range of regulated businesses, including large firms, SMEs and sole traders. You can see and respond to the survey at the Cost of compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations – survey for regulated businesses.

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