HM Treasury has confirmed its decision that the FCA will become the Single Professional Services Supervisor for AML, taking over responsibility for AML supervision across the legal and accountancy sectors from the existing professional body supervision model.
The government has now begun legislating to support that change through the Financial Services and Markets Bill. However, the transfer itself will require further secondary legislation amending the Money Laundering Regulations, alongside detailed implementation and transition arrangements. No date has yet been set for the FCA to assume supervision.
In this webinar, we took you through what the government has confirmed, what remains unresolved and what partners, COLPs, COFAs and MLROs should be watching as the reforms develop.
What this session covered
- The planned FCA registration and public register framework for AML-supervised firms
- Strengthened fit and proper assessments under regulation 58 and what these could mean for partners, BOOMs and firm gatekeeping
- Fees and funding, including the confirmed cost-recovery model and what remains to be decided about the detailed fee structure
- The transition process, what we know and don’t yet know about timing, and what MLROs should have on their agenda as the regime develops
- Scottish and Northern Irish considerations and how the move away from professional body AML supervision could operate across the UK
- What the Financial Services and Markets Bill does, what will still require secondary legislation, and why passage of the Bill will not itself trigger the transfer to FCA supervision
