The UK government has announced plans proposing to consolidate anti-money laundering (AML) responsibilities into a single national body.The plan presents four possibilities, the final decision of which could affect the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
The UK government's Treasury Department on June 6 announced a new plan aimed at overhauling the country's AML and combating the financing of terrorism (CTF) oversight.The proposed changes are focused on regulating how companies should deal with the requirements, rather than changing the requirements themselves.Another review is scheduled to assess its feasibility.
The Treasury has four possibilities on the table.The Ministry of Finance will now accept comments until the end of September.
AML monitoring rewrite
According to official documents, a single body may ultimately control AML supervision in the UK.Although the organization is public, it will answer directly to Congress.
The report notes that this single oversight agency has advantages over private sector agencies.Not only does it streamline supervision by centralizing it, but it also makes it easier to maintain continuity when AML regulations change.
This change, if materialized, will only affect how current regulators approach AML supervision.Regulators remain responsible for maintaining all other aspects of the guidance.
To prepare for this recommendation, the Ministry of Finance conducted a comprehensive global analysis examining the regulatory regimes of other G7 and G20 countries.These countries have received high marks from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and the UK wants to mirror that system, the Treasury said.
In the view of the UK Treasury, none of the AML systems currently in use in the UK meet standards.Therefore, we can only conclude that a new system is needed.
The study reveals persistent weaknesses in the AML supervisory process related to the UK non-financial sector.In addition, the income section highlights the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms by the authorities to address these shortcomings.
4 scenarios on the table
One of the models presented by the Treasury Department would require minor tweaks to existing policies.The newly created Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervisory Authority (OPBAS) will be able to more effectively supervise the UK's existing Professional Body Supervisory Board (PBS), which refers to the current regulator. You can get legal rights.
Another model would be to select a few (perhaps two or six) of PBS's regulators and give them AML/CTF oversight.There may be two overseeing the whole of the UK, or six covering each jurisdiction.
A third model proposes a single regulator overseeing all law and accounting firms.The Treasury Department explained that this would likely be an "independent public body with broad executive powers".
The final model introduces an entirely new supervisory body to manage AML as a whole.However, it is also the most problematic option as existing regulators such as the UKGC and the Financial Conduct Authority will not oversee AML and will maintain their current regulations.The result can be confusion and blurry lines about who is actually responsible for what.
It is unclear which of the four options the UKGC supports.
The UKGC may like the idea of not having to carry on a lot of work, but it must also waive powers over potential AML violations.AML violations are one of the reasons for imposing huge fines, so this option may not be very popular.
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