New Course Release – Tax Evasion: Failure to Prevent

VinciWorks releases new e-learning course on tax evasion

Does your organisation have “reasonable procedures” in place for preventing the facilitation of tax evasion?

The Criminal Finances Act, passed by Parliament on 27th April 2017, creates a new corporate criminal offence for failing to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion. This places the responsibility on businesses to have “reasonable procedures” in place to ensure none of their employees or contractors are involved in helping someone evade their taxes anywhere in the world. Training on tax evasion is a requirement of the new Criminal Finances Act.

About the course

VinciWorks’ new course on tax evasion will give users an understanding of what “reasonable procedures” are and how to ensure your organisation can ensure compliance with the Criminal Finances Act. Users will also learn the difference between the terms “tax evasion”, “tax avoidance” and “tax mitigation” through interactive quizzes, relevant scenarios and case studies. The course also addresses the challenge of offshore tax jurisdictions and gives guidance on how to spot red flags. Organisations can create personalised guidance for their staff, with information about the what to do and who to contact when there is a concern of tax evasion from a client.

There are two versions of the course available, one 45 minute course for high-risk staff and a 15 minute course for all other staff. You can demo both courses below. 

Demo the 15 minute version

Demo the 45 minute version

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New Data Protection Bill to implement GDPR in the UK

Data protection
The UK government is hoping the new Data Protection Bill will ensure a smooth transition to GDPR

The UK government has published its proposal to implement GDPR into UK law in a new Data Protection Bill. While GDPR will automatically come into force in the UK in 2018, the Bill is designed to ensure a smooth transition to a new data protection landscape regardless of Brexit, as well as implement key UK derogations.

Set to be introduced in September, the legislation will enshrine the fundamental principles of GDPR, including:

  • The right to be forgotten
  • Expanded definition of personal and sensitive personal data
  • Expanded rights to access personal data
  • Tighter rules on gaining consent
  • New criminal offences to protect people from being identified by anonymous data and from having their data altered
  • New powers for the Information Commissioner’s Office to fine companies £17m or 4% of global turnover

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Money Laundering Regulations – how do criminals and terrorists abuse law firms?

Grenade and money

At least £57 billion is laundered through the UK each and every year. It’s not just criminals turning their illicit money from crime clean. Terrorist financing is often overlooked when it comes to anti-money laundering efforts, but acts of terror in the UK and around the world are being bankrolled in the same way as money is laundered.

Law firms, as well as other professional services such as accountants, estate agents and financial services, are at high risk of being patsies for criminals and terrorists. Because their accounts are seen as “clean,” sending dirty money into a law firm’s client account and having it sent back out again is a sure fire way to launder dirty cash.
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Why publishing a modern slavery statement is now more important than ever

Two children working under tough conditions

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 has now been in force for over 18 months. The Act means large organisations must pay closer attention to the practices of their suppliers. This includes carrying out audits of their suppliers, investigating the physical conditions of the workforce and being on the look out for instances of child labour. Further, the Act dictates that organisations with a turnover of over £36 million are required to produce a slavery and human trafficking statement. Continue reading

Money Laundering Regulations – individuals and organisations receive large fines

The Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which came into force on 26th June 2017, brings some key changes to the anti-money laundering policies in law firms and organisations. Recent high profile money laundering scandals demonstrate the importance of having the right procedures in place to prevent money laundering. This blog gives some examples of the money laundering convictions that have damaged the reputations of firms and organisations.

Deutsche Bank learns anti-money laundering lessons the hard way

Deutsche Bank

In January, Deutsche Bank, Europe’s largest investment bank, was hit with an incredible £500 million from multiple regulators. The bank ran a $10bn money laundering scheme involving the Moscow, New York and London branches shifting roubles between Cyprus, Estonia and Latvia in a manner that was “highly suggestive of financial crime.” The regulators said “the bank missed numerous opportunities to detect, investigate and stop the [money laundering] scheme due to extensive compliance failures, allowing the scheme to continue for years.”
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Money Laundering Regulations 2017 – free micro course

On Monday 26th June, the Fourth Money Laundering Directive was transposed into law to create the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. While the majority of the content in the final law is the same as the draft, there are a few important additions included in the final version of the draft.

What are the changes under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017?

Some of the key changes that the Fourth Money Laundering Directive present are:

  • The ultimate beneficial owner of a corporate client will need to be determined and due diligence checks performed.
  • There will no longer be automatic exemptions from conducting client due diligence.
  • The rules for politically-exposed persons (“PEPs”) are no longer limited to those outside the UK.
  • Third party equivalence – the Fourth Directive has rescinded the “white list” and country-specific risk determinations must be made for any jurisdiction outside of the EU.

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Criminal Finances Act – is your organisation ready?

Checklist of “reasonable procedures” to comply with the Act

After receiving royal assent on 27th April, on 30th September the Criminal Finances Act came into full force. The Act creates a new corporate criminal offence for failing to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion, placing the responsibility on business to have “reasonable procedures” in place to ensure none of their employees are involved in helping someone evade their taxes.

Guidance from HMRC states that procedures which successfully detect and disclose wrongdoing would likely be found to be reasonable. Timely self-reporting is also an indicator that reasonable procedures are in place.

Reasonable procedures should be guided by the following principles:

1. Risk assessment

Oversight of risk assessment by senior management and appropriate allocation of resources to detect and monitor risk.

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On-demand Fourth Directive webinar – your questions answered

On 26th June 2017, the UK met the EU’s deadline and transposed the Fourth Money Laundering Directive into national legislation.

On Monday 2nd July over 200 law firms and organisations joined Director of Best Practice Gary Yantin and anti-money laundering expert Amy Bell to discuss the implementation of The Fourth Directive and the new Anti-Money Laundering Regulations 2017.

The webinar covered some key questions surrounding the new regulations such as:

  • What must firms do to comply with the Fourth Directive?
  • How do the changes to pooled client accounts affect me and how likely are the changes to come into force?
  • How do you carry out a risk assessment?
  • Is there Law Society guidance on how to approach risk-based CDD?
  • How will new legislation such as the Criminal Finances Act affect you?

Watch now

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Summary of Fourth Directive Changes in the Crown Dependencies

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are not members of the European Union and are not obligated to adopt the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive as the UK has done with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.

However, with close to 100 licensed banks, tens of thousands of regulated professionals and hundreds of billions of pounds in deposits and funds across the Crown Dependencies, complying with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines and implementing a international AML/CFT standards is a priority for the Bailiwick’s of Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man.

Jersey and Guernsey, in their 2017 answers to the European Parliament committee investigating the Panama Papers, have committed to reviewing the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive “after it has been approved at all EU levels”. The Crown Dependencies are likely to implement such measures as other third countries.

Current AML legislation in each Crown Dependency

Isle of Man

  • Isle of Man Proceeds of Crime Act 2008
  • Anti-Money Laundering and Countering The Financing of Terrorism Code 2015
  • Beneficial Ownership Act 2017

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Modern Slavery Act 2015 – deadline tomorrow

30th June 2017 marks the next big deadline for Modern Slavery Act compliance. Organisations with a financial year-end date of 31st December are required to produce a Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement before that date.

Train your staff with our suite of courses

Since VinciWorks released its first course on modern slavery a year ago, thousands of employees and suppliers have used the course as part of their internal compliance programs.

Among the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received, many companies felt they needed a more comprehensive course for procurement teams and a shorter course for general staff. Here is the suite of courses we have created to suit the needs of an entire organisation.

1. Raise your Awareness

Target audienceModern Slavery: Raise your Awareness online course
General staff in low risk industries

Duration
10 minutes

Course outcomes
Basic overview and common signs of slavery

Demo course
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