09 June 2023
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has named 240 supervised businesses, who were fined between 1 July and 31 December 2022 for breaching Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), aimed at preventing criminals from exploiting illicit cash.
HMRC is one of 25 Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervisors in the UK and certain types of business must register. HMRC supervises many businesses across the UK under MLRs and helps firms protect themselves from criminals who seek to launder cash or finance terrorism. Businesses which do not follow AML regulations can be fined and lose their licence to operate in the UK.
Xpress Money Services Ltd, based in London, received a fine of £1.4 million for failing to carry out risk assessments, not having appropriate AML controls and failing to conduct due diligence checks.
In addition to the named businesses, another 179 companies received smaller fines totalling more than £200,000 for rule breaches. Money service businesses provide vital services to the community, offering currency exchange, money transmission and cheque cashing. However, they can be exploited by criminals to launder the proceeds of crime, so must have a robust risk assessment and policies, controls and procedures to prevent this.
Nick Sharp, HMRC’s Deputy Director of Economic Crime, Fraud Investigation Service, said:
“Money laundering is not a victimless crime. We are here to help businesses protect themselves from criminal attacks and will continue to tackle the minority of businesses which do not comply with the Money Laundering Regulations.
Serious and organised crime costs the UK billions of pounds every year and our anti-money laundering supervision is a vital tool in combatting that.”
A full list of the named companies who have received fines or suspensions under these regulations is available:
- suspension and cancellation of anti-money laundering supervision list
- businesses not complying with money laundering regulations.
Guidance for money service businesses on AML rules is available here.
Read the full press release here.
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