Anti Money Laundering Policy 2021 to 2022

4.1 Whilst Local Authorities are not directly covered by the requirements of the Money Laundering Regulations 2019, guidance from finance and legal professions, including the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting (CIPFA), indicates that public service organisations should comply with the underlying spirit of the legislation and regulations and put in place appropriate and proportionate anti money laundering safeguards and reporting arrangements.

4.2 The regulations apply to “relevant persons” acting in the course of business carried out by them in the UK. Relevant persons must check beneficial ownership registers of legal entities in scope of the People with Significant Control (PSC) requirements before establishing a business relationship. Where there is a discrepancy between the beneficial ownership information on the registers and the information that is made available to them in the course of carrying out CDD, there is a requirement to report these discrepancies to Companies House. Companies House will investigate and, if necessary, resolve the discrepancy in a timely manner. These reports are excluded from public inspection. Not all of the Council’s business is relevant for the purposes of the Regulations; it could include accountancy and audit services carried out by Financial Services and the financial, company and property transactions undertaken by Legal Services.

4.3 It is reasonable to conclude that the money laundering regime is not primarily aimed at local authorities and that local authorities’ work is to some extent tangential to the regime. However, the safest way to ensure compliance with the regime is nonetheless to apply its requirements to all of the Council’s areas of work and to ensure that all staff comply with the reporting procedure set out in the Policy.

4.4 The obligations on the Council are to establish and maintain appropriate and risk-sensitive policies and procedures relating to the following:

• customer due diligence measures and ongoing monitoring
  
• reporting
  
• record-keeping
  
• internal control
  
• risk assessment and management
  
• the monitoring and management of compliance with, and the internal communication of such policies and procedures

4.5 All employees are required to follow the procedure set out in the Policy and in this way the Council will properly discharge its obligations under the money laundering regime.