Authorised Firms may have recently received a 'Dear MLRO Letter' that explains that the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 impose a new notification requirement on Authorised Firms.

Authorised Firms are obliged under the new Regulations to inform us if they act as money service businesses or trust or company services providers. As such, an authorised person should notify us if:

  • it is a trust or company service provider;
  • it operates a currency exchange office (a bureau de change);
  • it transmits money (or any representations of money) by any means;
  • it cashes cheques that have been made payable to customers;
  • it is subject to the EU's Payments Regulation.

For further information see our frequently asked questions.

Update for the deadline on the 15th January

The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 require authorised firms to notify the FSA by 15 January 2008 if they are "Trust or Company Service Providers" (TCSPs) or "Money Service Businesses" (MSBs).

We appreciate that, in order to determine whether they are TSCPs or MSBs, some firms have needed to undertake some analysis of their business, or have decided to seek legal advice, and in some cases it may be difficult to resolve these issues by 15 January.

We suggest that, if you will not be able to meet the 15 January 2008 deadline, you send a brief note to the FSA setting out the steps you are taking to prepare your notification.

If you are a relationship managed firm, we suggest that you contact your supervisor, referring to this notice. If you do not have a designated relationship manager, please contact moneylaunderingregulations@fsa.gov.uk with a short explanation of how you plan to prepare a notification.

Notification

If a firm falls into one or more of these five categories, it will need to notify us. The Regulations stipulate that, should a notification be necessary, it must take place by 15 January 2008. If none of these apply, then there will be no need to make a notification.

Authorised firms should use the notification form to let the FSA know. For assistance on how to complete it, please see the sample form.

Any Authorised Firm that begins to act as an Money Service Business or a Trust and Company Service Provider after 15 December 2007 must notify the FSA as such within 28 days.

A firm that is applying for Authorisation will be asked whether it is a Money Service Business or a Trust or Company Service Provider in the 'Core Details' section of the Part IV Permission Form.

Please note that appointed representatives or other registered businesses will not need to notify the FSA but may require registration under the money laundering regulations. Please see What is required of newly registered businesses?.