Risk assessment

A risk-based approach is embedded in UK legislation and AML best practice. It means that firms should assess their risks and target their resources to the areas or products that are most likely to be used to launder money. Similarly, we take a risk-based approach to directing our resources, focusing effort most on supervising the firms that are most likely to be used to launder money.

The UK Government periodically undertakes a National Risk Assessment pulling together risk-based information from all sectors in scope of the AML requirements, law enforcement and other sources. Drawing on this and in order to fulfil our duties under Regulation 17 of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (as amended) ('the regulations'), we also produce a risk assessment of our supervised sector. This is in order to help firms to better estimate the risks they are exposed to. Our sectoral risk assessment must be considered as a part of each firm's firm-wide risk assessment.

We ask to see firms' written risk assessments and policies, procedures and controls as part of our proactive supervision programme, or in response to specific information we have received. Your firm's risk assessment should not be disclosed to customers, or third parties, because it may be useful to those who are seeking to launder money. This document sets out information on money laundering and terrorist financing risk that we consider most relevant for firms we supervise.

We will continue to refresh this sectoral risk assessment on a regular basis to keep up to date with emerging risks and trends.

Who does it apply to?

The regulations place obligations on firms offering services that are most likely to be targeted by those wishing to launder money.

These include independent legal professionals, tax advisers and trust and company service providers as defined in the regulations.

What to do with this information

All firms that are within scope of the regulations must comply with all the requirements of regulations. This includes taking appropriate steps to identify, assess and maintain a written record of their risk of being used for money laundering or terrorist financing.

Firms must have regard to this risk assessment, and any updates, when creating and maintaining their own written risk assessment as required by Regulation 18 of the regulations, along with a comprehensive knowledge of their business and clients.

We may ask to see your firm's risk assessment.

Sanctions

The sanctions regime has expanded recently, mainly due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The long-standing involvement of Russian interests and beneficial owners in British business, and vice versa, has meant that many firms have been exposed to the sanctions regime for the first time.

It is important to remember, however, that there are a large number of thematic and geographic sanctions regimes beyond Russia and Belarus. Firms cannot assume that sanctions are not relevant to them. There are a significant number of British nationals subject to sanctions.

The sanctions regime is separate to the proceeds of crime and money laundering regimes, but overlaps with them in many ways:

• It involves many of the same risk factors as money laundering, such as suspect jurisdictions, politically exposed persons (PEPs) and complex corporate structures.
• Sanctions create a motive for wanting to obscure the origin or recipient of funds or assets.
• The ownership and control requirements of the sanctions regime also mean that it is necessary to identify a corporate entity's ultimate beneficial owners. This makes it all the more important to carry out effective client due diligence (CDD).

We expect the sanctions regime to continue to expand, so all firms should be familiar with the requirements. Sanctioned individuals and businesses are likely to seek to instruct firms with weaker controls.

We have also produced comprehensive guidance on the sanctions regime, as has the Office for Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).

Proliferation financing

Amendments to the regulations in 2022 mean that all firms must now carry out an assessment of their exposure to the risk of proliferation financing.

Simply put, this means the risk of the firm being involved with the global proliferation of nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological weapons by groups and countries which are not permitted to have them under international treaty. This includes both materials for weapons, and also ‘dual-use goods'. These are goods which are not manufactured as weapons but could be used in weapons or to produce them, for example fertiliser.

We consider the overall risk posed by proliferation financing to the legal profession to be low. In most cases, firms will be able to cover their proliferation financing risk as part of their AML firm-wide risk assessment, given that many of the risk indicators are the same.

There are, however, some sectors which have heightened exposure to proliferation financing, and where we would expect a firm to undertake a more thorough risk assessment, either as part of the AML firm-wide risk assessment or as a standalone document. These include:

• trade finance
• commercial contracts
• manufacturing - particularly in relation to dual-use goods
• commodities – particularly mined metals and chemicals
• shipping/maritime
• military/defence

Firms may be of a greater risk where they have exposure to countries which:

• are subject to UN sanctions (for example, Iran or North Korea)
• are suspected of using or seeking to acquire nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological weapons (for example, Syria)
• share a porous border with such countries.

This risk of diversion across borders, where criminals and terrorists may export goods to a border region and then smuggle them to a country subject to sanctions, is one to which firms should be particularly aware.

The 2023 Legal Sector Affinity Group guidance includes advice on assessing the risk of proliferation finance.

Technology

There are similar risks in the use of new types of financial technology, eg fund transfer systems and crowdfunding platforms. Any use of new technologies should be preceded by an assessment of the risks they may introduce and effective mitigation of these risks where possible.

This greater use of technology in all respects also heightens the importance of cyber security. Cyber security breaches could allow criminals to gain total access to both client's sensitive data and the firm's systems, allowing them to be used for laundering money.

Wider economic pressures

A separate issue which is of growing importance is the issue of sufficient resourcing of AML work. Economic conditions have deteriorated and there is much uncertainty for firms. Firms are likely to be under pressure to reduce costs, and elements of businesses that are not directly revenue generating may see their budgets reduced.

Whatever decisions are made about resourcing, firms need to understand that economic conditions do not change the requirement to comply with the regulations. In fact, the economic conditions are more likely to increase a firm's exposure to would-be money launderers, emboldened by a perception that they are in a position of relative strength in dealing with firms.

As a part of our duties as an AML supervisor, we have been reviewing the compliance of firms we supervise, including reviewing firm risk assessments, policies, controls and procedures and client files. We have published a detailed account of findings from a recent set of visits.

We have published several other pieces of guidance and supporting information, also informed by this proactive work:

• warning notices on:
  • money laundering and terrorist financing
  • suspicious activity reports
  • firm risk assessments
• an AML topic guide which informs our approach to enforcement
• guidance for AML officers
• guidance on sanctions
• guidance on firm risk assessments.

Weak controls

Inadvertent failures and gaps in a firm's AML compliance can introduce real and dangerous vulnerabilities into their ability to protect themselves from would-be money launderers.

For example, weak screening controls put firms at risk of being used or infiltrated by organised crime gangs. Individuals posing as solicitors, or solicitors that are being controlled by criminal elements, can use the structures of a firm (particularly the client account) to provide a veil of legitimacy to the proceeds of crime.

The most common weaknesses we have observed included inadequate:

• source of funds checks
• independent audits
• screening of staff and
• matter risk assessments.

We have also observed that while larger firms may have greater resources to protect them from money laundering risks, risk-based information is often kept by a separate team or systems and is unavailable to others within that firm. This can mean that those working on a file may:

• lack ready access to the underlying risk assessment and due diligence documentation and information and
• be prevented from conducting effective ongoing monitoring of risk.

Firms should remain vigilant and make sure their policies, controls and procedures adequately protect the firm against the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Developing a culture of compliance is vital. Firms' outcomes are improved if staff understand the reasons for preventing economic crime, and their role in doing so, rather than seeing it as the job of a compliance team or an AML officer. 

Politically exposed persons (PEPs) and higher-risk jurisdictions

We have found that, smaller firms in particular, are potentially taking an overly simplistic approach to risks associated with PEPs and higher-risk jurisdictions.

The UK economy is highly integrated with the rest of the world, and services offered in the UK are attractive to those in high-risk jurisdictions who wish to make the proceeds of crime seem legitimate. A blanket assumption that PEPs would not instruct your firm, or that your firm would never accept instructions from a PEP, is not a sufficient protection against the risks they present. Neither approach would itself satisfy the requirement at Regulation 35(1) to have measures in place to identify PEPs.

It is for firms to decide their own risk appetite, but their policies should be realistic. With the proper policies, controls and procedures, there is nothing to prevent a firm taking on PEP clients. If a firm has an overly restrictive PEP policy, it is at risk of:

• turning away clients for no good reason, restricting access to legal services
• being counter-productive if the firm has a policy which is ignored or routinely breached.

It is also important to note that PEPs may also be from the UK, and indeed there are many thousands of PEPs in the UK who may seek legal services for entirely legitimate reasons.

It is also important to note that PEPs may instruct a variety of firms, not just those that are large and high-profile. In our proactive work, we noted that PEPs are equally likely to instruct small firms and sole practitioners.

External support

Many firms engage external advice to meet their compliance requirements. In most cases, this is a helpful resource. Some firms, however, rely too heavily on external consultants or systems.

This can include:

• Unsuitable use of templates for risk assessments, failing to take the firm's individual circumstances into account.
• Using electronic identification and verification systems without understanding the underlying processes or their limitations.
• Using external consultants to draft their compliance documents without an in-depth understanding of the work of the firm.
• Using external consultants who have limited knowledge of the legal profession.

While seeking external help with your compliance can be of benefit, the firm itself is in the best position to understand its own risks and design and implement effective mitigation.

It is also important to note that the obligations under the MLR 2017 apply to the firm and cannot be outsourced. The same can be said for the individual responsibilities held by a firm's MLCO, MLRO and beneficial owners, operators and managers under the regulations.

The 2020 NRA said: 'The risk of abuse of legal services for money laundering purposes remains high overall. Legal service providers (LSPs) offer a wide range of services and the services most at risk of exploitation by criminals and corrupt elites for money laundering purposes continue to be conveyancing, trust and company services, and client accounts.'

The NRA goes on to highlight how a lack of focus on compliance, taking a tick-box approach, or a lack of understanding of risk in firms leads to a higher risk of being exploited by criminals. The NRA rated the legal sector as being low risk of being used for terrorist financing.

The risk assessment identifies several potential emerging issues including:

• sham litigation (ie fake lawsuits between collaborating parties to launder money as payment of damages)
• use of crypto assets for payments, which while not always automatically suspicious inherently make it harder to identify the beneficial owner and as a result should be treated as high risk
• use of crowdfunding, which can make the source of funds extremely difficult to establish.

Risk factors

Risk is the likelihood of money laundering or terrorist financing taking place through your firm. Risk in this document refers to the inherent level of risk before any mitigation – it does not refer to the residual risk that remains after you have put mitigation in place. Risk can exist in isolation, or through a combination of factors that increase or decrease the risk posed by the client or transaction.

The different types of risk factors that we consider to be significant for firms we regulate are set out below. Your firm's risk assessment will need to address all of these.

You should not confuse low frequency with low risk. A firm that conducts three conveyances a year, for example, is likely to be less familiar with the process and have less of an appreciation of current risks than a firm that carries out several every day.

We expect firms to have both:

• a realistic awareness of the risk posed to the profession and to their own business and clients
• systems to manage risk appropriately.

It is important to note, though, that none of these risk factors are prohibitive in and of themselves, nor are they a reason to withdraw from offering these services.

We have noticed that firms will often attempt to address risk by highlighting what they do not do. This approach leads to a tick-box mentality to risk and should be avoided. Instead, you should focus on what your firm does do, and from there honestly identify and evaluate all risks present.This might require you to divide services and products into subcategories, in order to draw out high-risk elements from lower risk ones. A large amount of solicitors' money laundering risk depends on the services, or combination of services they offer.

Based on our supervisory work and analysis, we have found that the following services pose the highest risk.

Each client is different, and each will have their own particular risk-profile. There are a number of different factors that increase the risk of money laundering presented by clients. Warning signs include clients:

• appearing to want anonymity
• acting outside their usual pattern of transactions
• whose identity is difficult to verify
• being evasive about providing ID documents
• pressuring you into a certain course of action

The risk posed by your client also extends to the risk posed by the beneficial owner, if applicable. You need to be confident you know who your client is and why they are asking for your services, and any risk that you do not should be duly considered.

You should also not assume that existing clients are necessarily lower risk. Clients might seek to onboarded with you for low-risk work, and then transition to higher risk work in order to bypass more stringent checks at the point of onboarding.

Existing clients can also present a risk where they have been onboarded in a way that might deviate from your firm's standard practices. Common scenarios include:

• clients onboarded in another firm which has since merged with your own
• clients ported from a foreign branch office, or a company in the same group
• clients onboarded by a consultant or individual who may not be applying the firm's approach consistently.

Effective ongoing monitoring of all clients is the best control against these risks.

There are a number of factors that might make an individual transaction higher risk. Much of identifying risk is being alert for unusual activity or requests that don't make commercial sense. The use of cash, either as part of a transaction or for payment of fees is inherently higher risk, and firms should have a policy on what amount of cash they will accept, and in what circumstances.

Understanding the source of funds and the source of wealth will help you to manage the risk from a transaction. For the avoidance of doubt, for a source of funds check you should be checking where the customer got the funds from, not just ensuring the funds came from a bank account at a regulated UK financial institution. You should consider the following factors:

The way in which you deliver your services can increase or reduce risk to the firm.

Covid-19 accelerated the trend for firms not meeting clients face to face, which can make it inherently more difficult to identify and verify their identity. These risks can be mitigated by the use of effective electronic identification and verification tools.

These tools represent an evolution in the identification and verification capabilities of firms and may be seen as an improvement when compared to some previous common practices such as relying on certified copies of documents.

While they can be valuable in aiding firms to fulfil their AML duties, they may however present risks where they are not fully understood: For example:

• Being used in a way that was not intended. For example, just because a system has stated that a client has ‘passed’ does not mean no further enquiries are necessary, nor does it obviate the requirement to identify and verify them.
• Those using them are not properly trained in the systems leading to user error.
• Viewing the checks as a one-time exercise and failing to regularly update the checks as part of their ongoing monitoring obligations.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has produced guidance on using these services.

Ultimately the firm is responsible for its own compliance, and this responsibility can never be outsourced.

When assessing geographic risk, you should consider the jurisdiction in which services will be delivered, the location of the client, and that of any beneficial owners or counterparties as well as the source and destination of funds.

In some jurisdictions the sources of money laundering are more common, for example locations where the production of drugs, drugs trafficking, terrorism, corruption, people trafficking or illegal arms dealing more commonly occur.

While countries with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regimes which are equivalent to the UK may be considered lower risk, you must guard against complacency. There have been major examples of local AML failures with international impacts, in what had been seen previously as low risk jurisdictions.

Below are the key issues to consider regarding geographic risk

We have published more information on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing