Responsibilities

The Regulations make it a criminal offence for regulated businesses not to have in place formal procedures to combat money laundering.

Firm's responsibilities include:

Appointing a nominated officer

Most firms which carry out a consumer credit activity must appoint a nominated Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) who is responsible for receiving disclosures of suspicious transactions and activity and deciding whether these reports should be reported to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

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Carrying out “due diligence” on customers (checking their identity)

“Simplified due diligence” may be carried out where the annual payments do not exceed €15,000 and the legal and beneficial title of the asset(s) is not transferred to the customer until the end of the contract (this would include a motor finance deal). “Enhanced due diligence” – increased levels of checking – should be carried out in cases where the customer has not been physically present for identification purposes. If a firm is unable to identify a customer it should not continue with the transaction.

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Record keeping

Copies of documents obtained during the process of identifying customers, together with details of all transactions on the account, must be kept for five years after the transaction or finance agreement has ended.

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Monitoring the business relationship

The lender should monitor the customer’s repayments to check that they are normal and in line with the agreement.

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Reporting suspicions

The Regulations place a legal obligation on all staff working in all finance companies and motor dealerships to report any suspicions to their nominated "Money Laundering Reporting Officer" or directly to the National Crime Agency (NCA). Once a report has been made to the firm’s MLRO, it is an offence to make any further disclosure that is likely to prejudice an investigation.

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Training staff

All staff who are involved in customer transactions - including those in motor finance providers and motor dealerships – must receive ongoing training on the requirements of the Money Laundering Regulations. This training must include requirements for identifying suspicious activity, reporting any such activity and keeping accurate records of transactions that may need to be investigated at a later date. The FLA offers such training.

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