Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Money laundering definition

What does Money laundering mean? money laundering is the process of concealing the proceeds of crime so they appear legitimate, including placement, layering and integration. The term is generic, but in the UK the principal offences are defined in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (ss.327–329), with related reporting and tipping‑off offences and preventive duties under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (as amended). In Ireland, offences and compliance obligations arise under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts 2010–2021. Key features include dealing with “criminal property” (acquiring, using, possessing or arranging) and duties in the regulated sector—banks, solicitors, accountants, estate agents and others—to...

Law firms as tax advisers under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017: scope, CDD, supervision, examples and warning signs

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Practice notes

The money laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017), SI 2017/692

MLR 2017 form part of the UK’s broader framework for anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF) and counter-proliferation financing. They set out administrative obligations that sit alongside the criminal aspects of the regime contained in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002), the terrorism Act 2000 (TA 2000) and related sanctions measures, with some overlap between these laws. The MLR 2017 extend to specified categories of persons acting in the course of business in the UK (see Practice Note: Money Laundering Regulations 2017-scope and application-law firms). For solicitors and law firms, the chief categories of interest are:

independent legal professionals engaged in certain financial or real property transactions
trust or company service providers
auditors, insolvency practitioners, external accountants and tax advisers
estate agents

The grouping most likely to capture law firms is ‘independent legal professionals’, but only in relation to particular financial or real property matters. The other categories above may likewise apply to law firms, depending upon the...

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Web page updated on 27/05/2026

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