The Wall Street Journal | By: Mara Lemos Stein | Jul 26, 2017:
Provisions in the U.K.’s Criminal Finances Act of 2017 allowing for greater information sharing by financial institutions are unlikely to spur a flurry of joint reports of suspected money laundering activity, as the new procedures are more burdensome than existing rules and could delay a transaction, said financial crime experts.
Under the Act, which will come into effect in September, a person working in a regulated organization may supply information, upon request, to someone else, who is also in the regulated sector.
Before any sharing occurs, however, the National Crime Agency must be notified, and the person passing on information needs to be satisfied that the disclosure will potentially assist in detecting money laundering.
The request also needs to be fairly specific, and include identification of the person the disclosure refers to, details of the information sought, and in certain instances, details of the grounds for the suspicion of money laundering.
There are also other several steps to be taken to ensure a clear line of reporting in the information-sharing process, which means extra administrative work for firms, said Jonathan Fisher, a financial crime attorney with Bright Line Law, in London.
“I am doubtful we will see many of these shared [suspicious activity reports] because the procedure is so cumbersome,” he said. “The legislation is not giving firms the leeway to pick up the phone and share [the information],” said Mr. Fisher.
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