Anti-Money Laundering
The body of law, regulation, and supervision — commonly abbreviated AML — aimed at stopping criminally obtained money or assets from being disguised as legitimate. In the UK, businesses in specified sectors must register with a supervisory authority under the Money Laundering Regulations.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
HMRC guidance defines the underlying wrong that anti-money laundering law exists to prevent: 'Money laundering means exchanging money or assets that were obtained criminally for money or other assets that are ‘clean’. The clean money or assets do not have an obvious link with any criminal activity. Money laundering also includes money that's used to fund terrorism, however it's obtained.' The definition deliberately covers both ordinary criminal proceeds and terrorist financing within the same regime.
The regulatory response is supervision rather than a single enforcement body. The guidance confirms that 'Every business covered by the regulations must be monitored by a supervisory authority', with sectors such as accountants, financial service businesses, estate agents, and solicitors all brought within scope because of the money-laundering risks associated with their work. A business already regulated by, for example, the Financial Conduct Authority may already be supervised for these purposes, but many others must register separately, commonly with HMRC.
Related terms
Official sources
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