Q&A - Money Laundering

QUESTION

Can you tell me if as a company we need to register for money laundering purposes if we act as company secretary for RMC’s?

ANSWER

...

Guidance provided by ARMA suggests:

Acting as a company secretary falls within the definition of being a Trust or Company Services Provider which is a regulated activity for Money Laundering Regulation Purposes so would result in a property professional needing to register for money laundering purposes unless they meet all of the following conditions;

·         The property professional’s total annual turnover in respect of the trust and company services does not exceed £64,000;

·         The financial activity is limited in relation to any customer to no more than one transaction exceeding 1,000 euro, whether the transaction is          
          carried out in a single operation, or a series of operations which appear to be linked;

·         The financial activity does not exceed 5% of the property professional’s total turnover;

·         The financial activities are ancillary and directly related to the property professional’s main activity;

·         The main activity is not to transmit or remit monies (or any representation of monetary value) by any means;

·         The main activity is not covered by ML Regulations 3 (1) (a)-(f) or (h).  ML Regulation 3(1)(f) covers estate agency;

·         The financial activity is provided only to customers of the property professional’s main activity and is not offered to the public.

For letting agents and managing agents they will also need to consider whether they are Accountancy Service Providers ie do they perform any relevant duties for the RMCs in addition to the companysecretarial work? This will not be the case if they are simply recording rents or similar income and costs.  Further guidance is available from all the sector’s professional bodies and HMRC who would be the Anti-Money laundering supervisory body for Trust or Company Services Providers and Accountancy Service Providers, who don’t have to register with another regulator (e.g.  ICAEW, ACCA, Law Society etc).

It is not clear from the original question as to the extent of activity or nature of the reader’s business.If they are estate agents doing property management services they will need to be registered anyway.If simply a letting agent who has agreed to do some Company Secretarial work for one or two of the existing RMC clients, and the fees do not exceed the limits referred to above, then we would suggest that there is no need to register."

 

Alison Randall, Partner at Whittingham Riddell

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