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Corporate and fraudulent behaviour

Tipping off

Under s.333 it is an offence to make a disclosure likely to prejudice a money
laundering investigation. It covers the situation where an accountant informs a client
that a report has been submitted to the NCA.

Defences – there is a defence that the person did not know or suspect that the
disclosure would be likely to prejudice the investigation or that the person had lawful
authority to make the disclosure.

The maximum penalty for tipping off is five years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

The Money Laundering Regulations 2007

The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (MLR) require certain firms to introduce
internal reporting systems to seek to identify any risk of money laundering.

The MLR apply to ‘relevant persons’. This is a broad concept including, for example,
auditors, tax advisers and insolvency advisers as well as businesses such as estate
agents or casinos.

The regulations cover the following:

 Customer due diligence

 Record keeping, procedures and training

 Supervision and registration

 Enforcement.

Customer due diligence

This aspect of the Regulations considers the need for relevant persons to:

 Identify customers and verify their identity

 Identify any beneficial owners

 Obtain information on the purpose and nature of any business relationships.

This should be performed when relevant persons enter into a business relationship
as well as carry out occasional transactions.

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