Financial crime meaning

Checklist The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), a part of HM Treasury, is responsible for communicating, implementing and enforcing financial sanctions in the UK. It also holds powers to grant licences that permit an activity or transaction which would otherwise be prohibited under the UK financial sanctions regime. OFSI may only issue licences connected to financial sanctions. If your application concerns a different sanction, such as trade or immigration, you must send it to the appropriate Department. See further Practice Note: Understanding the financial sanctions regime. This Checklist brings together the requirements for applying to OFSI for a financial sanctions licence, alongside recommendations to help make your application faster and easier. These are drawn from multiple sources, including the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA 2018) and regulations made under it, various OFSI guidance materials, and guidance from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). This Checklist also signposts relevant content to support compliance with these requirements and suggestions. A section is provided for you to indicate completion...

This timeline charts activity from 1 January 2024 onwards concerning the EU-facing legal and supervisory frameworks for anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF) and counter‑proliferation financing (CPF) within the financial services sector. It traces both milestones and roll-out of the European AML, CTF and CPF rulebook. It also tracks cross-border initiatives in AML/CTF/CPF from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), IOSCO, the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and the Wolfsberg Group. For added detail on the EU AML/CTF regime, consult the Financial crime and sanctions (EU Law)—overview, including Practice Notes on AMLA—direct oversight of qualifying financial services firms, the EU Sixth Money Laundering Directive (MLD6) and the EU Recast Second Wire Transfer Regulation (Recast WTR2) on cryptoasset transfers... 2026 16 March 2026 — AMLA — AMLA starts a data collection exercise to test risk assessment models. AMLA has issued the reporting package for this data collection and testing exercise...

Under section 14 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002), the court will ordinarily impose a confiscation order before passing sentence on the defendant, yet it can defer the confiscation proceedings for a defined period of up to two years from the date of conviction-see Practice Note: Postponement of confiscation proceedings. If proceedings are postponed, the court will typically direct a timetable for the exchange of material required by POCA 2002 (frequently referred to as the confiscation timetable). The outline below identifies the documents exchanged for these purposes, the point at which they are required, and key points for practitioners to bear in mind when reviewing them. Document: Required where: Commentary Information by defendant in response to an order under POCA 2002, s 18 Where the court proceeds to make a confiscation order under POCA 2002, s 6(3)(a) (the prosecutor seeks an order) or POCA 2002, s 6(3)(b) (the court considers it proper to make an order), or where the court is deciding whether to...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental permits and consents Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change DESNZ releases quarterly waste data reporting template for the UK ETS. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has issued a template for quarterly waste data submissions under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). It is designed for waste operators to use when sending quarterly data reports to their regulator during the voluntary monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) period. See: LNB News 19/02/2026 50. AFME responds to European Commission consultation on climate resilience legislative framework. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has provided...

In this issue: Horizon scanning Worker status and categories Immigration Pay Remuneration Taxation Diversity and the gender pay gap Maternity, parents and carers Whistleblowing Data protection and staff information Confidentiality, obligations and restrictions: enforcement Financial services and banking: employment matters Bribery, modern slavery, tax evasion and fraud Issues arising on termination Employment Tribunals Civil courts and alternative dispute resolution Dates for your diary Trackers Employment resources on Lexis+® LexTalk® Employment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Horizon scanning Updated Employment Rights Bill to be considered by the House of Lords The updated Employment Rights Bill (ERB), transmitted from the House of Commons to the House of Lords, was issued on 14 March 2025. Its second reading in the House of Lords is scheduled for 27 March 2025...

In this issue: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 Equity capital markets Private M&A (share purchase) Corporate governance—EU Members Company restoration Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information New Q&As Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (Protection and Disclosure of Information and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2024 SI 2024/1377: These Regulations update LLP company law to reflect recent changes under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 and expand the scenarios in which a person’s residential address can be withheld from the company register, covering former registered office addresses, while maintaining corporate openness and aligning LLP provisions. They commence on 27 January 2025. See: LNB News 07/11/2024 27. Equity capital markets The Financial Conduct Authority has released Policy Statement PS24/19: Enhancing the National Storage Mechanism, setting out the feedback to Consultation Paper CP24/17, its longer-term vision for the NSM, and...

For guidance on what deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) are and how they work, see Practice Note: Deferred prosecution agreements, which explains their operation. In what circumstances can a DPA be varied? The statutory power to amend a DPA sits squarely in paragraph 10 of Schedule 17 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (CCA 2013) itself. A DPA may require alteration in two situations: where the court invites the parties to vary the DPA under CCA 2013, Sch 17 Pt 1, para 9(3)(a), namely where the organisation has breached the agreement and the court wants the parties to put forward proposals to cure the organisation’s non-compliance, by agreement between the parties as invited by the court, accordingly (see Practice Notes: Financial penalties as a term of a DPA—Late payment and breach of a DPA and Breach of a DPA) where a variation is required to prevent the organisation failing to comply with its obligations in circumstances that were not, and could not reasonably...

This Practice Note outlines how in-house lawyers can collaborate with other business functions to secure adherence to regulatory requirements... What regulations need to be complied with and who is responsible for compliance programmes? Every organisation faces sector‑specific rules and broad, cross‑cutting obligations, including: data protection health and safety competition product safety financial crime environmental obligations employment consumer protection advertising and marketing sanctions/export controls reporting/tax In a regulated sector, a visible compliance function is to be expected, yet it is uncommon for a single department to cover every regulatory strand. Where the core business is not regulated, compliance can become fragmented: HR may take charge of health and safety, while another HR lead may oversee ethics (anti‑bribery). An environment team might drive environmental compliance but leave gaps, for example around product packaging and disposal. Data privacy may sit with a dedicated team or be handled by Legal. The legal team will typically take...

The Pensions Regulator’s scheme management enforcement strategy explains its approach to compliance and enforcement across defined benefits funding, defined contribution and public service pension schemes, while also describing the outcomes TPR may pursue and the means by which it could achieve them, all to strengthen safety and security for pension savers. Its prosecution policy and broader enforcement strategy set out the principal aims of its enforcement activity and give insight into the framework TPR applies when deciding which cases to take forward for enforcement action. Initial considerations in TPR investigations In its capacity as the UK regulator for work-based pension schemes, TPR has a suite of information-gathering powers to identify and track risks and to obtain evidence to support criminal prosecutions. These include: requiring reports of breaches of the law and notifiable events requiring reports prepared by skilled persons on specified issues compelling trustees and employers to provide documents and other information the power to inspect premises For more...

How to use this test These questions assess your grasp following your participation in our training on financial sanctions. Once you have finished this test, kindly please return it to [ insert name ]. General Name of person completing test: [ Insert name ] Role: [ Insert role ] Date: [ Insert date ] Multiple choice questions Please tick the correct answer. Question Multiple choice answers 1. What do financial sanctions involve? □ Limits on dealings in money and the provision of financial services □ Limits on import and export of goods □ Limits on travel into and out of the UK □ All of the above 2....

Substantial cash transactions can indicate money laundering, terrorist funding, or proliferation financing. Do not take any monies (cash or otherwise) from a [ customer OR client ] until the [ customer OR client ] due diligence (CDD) checks have been finalised. While no statutory cap exists on cash, our internal cash policy states you must not receive cash [ over the limit of £[ 250 ] ] in the office or paid straight into our bank...

1 Introduction 1.1 This policy outlines the duties of staff and leaders regarding inquiries into fraud, bribery, the facilitation of tax evasion, and other commercial offences (collectively, ‘financial crime’) within [ insert organisation name ]. We have zero tolerance for any form of financial crime and pledge to safeguard our assets and uphold honesty and integrity at all times. 1.2 [ Insert organisation name ] is dedicated to running its operations transparently, honestly and fairly, at all times. Everyone employed by, or acting for, [ insert organisation name ] must consistently demonstrate the highest level of accountability and foster an ethical culture at all times. 1.3 When financial crime is suspected, [ insert organisation name ] will initiate an impartial inquiry into the allegations and take suitable remedial action. Actions may involve disciplinary processes, dismissal and/or providing information to the relevant criminal prosecution authorities. [ Insert organisation name ] will, where appropriate, pursue recovery of funds lost through financial crime perpetrated or enabled by employees...