After an eventful 2017, the year ahead will unlikely be dull on the United Kingdom's anti-money laundering (AML) scene.
The past 12 months ushered in key reforms, including the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, the UK's designs for its own AML and sanctions legislation post-Brexit, a shake-up of main financial crime bodies such as the Serious Fraud Office and its new relationship with the National Crime Agency, the launch of a new umbrella anti-money laundering body, just to mention a few.
Some of what lies ahead in 2018 is set to build upon these and other key developments, planned and unplanned, that will emerge.
In the meantime, KYC360 has been speaking to UK-based analysts and various industry figures about what they are watching out for this year, basically what is set to be hot – or not.
Regional legislation – EU Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD)
Nicholas McVeigh, managing associate, Mishcon de Reya:
It will be interesting to see how the UK responds to future changes to AML legislation coming out of Europe and to what extent it will implement those.
With Brexit in view, the UK has already said it aims to continue to abide by EU AML laws, but will there be a point where we decide to do something differently? Firms in the UK will be closely watching the text and adoption of 5AMLD, also known as the directive amending the Fourth Money Laundering Directive.
From a corporate law perspective, the aspects of it which relate to beneficial ownership and the impact on the UK's PSC register regime will be of particular interest.
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