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...

Tipping-off, prejudicing investigations and interfering with documents: POCA 2002, MLR 2017 and ECCTA 2023 guidance for UK law firms (regulated and unregulated), covering SARs, defences, penalties, moratorium and SuperSARs

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Practice notes

Within the regulated sector, several distinct offences exist for tipping-off and for conduct that could prejudice an investigation. A distinct offence of prejudicing an investigation applies solely to the unregulated sector. An additional offence relating to the interference with documents captures activity across both sectors. This Practice Note examines tipping-off and the prejudicing of a money laundering investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002). It accords with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017), SI 2017/692. For guidance on what amounts to the regulated sector, see Practice Note: Money laundering—key information for law firms.

Suspicious activity report

The main money laundering offences are:

concealing criminal property
being concerned in an arrangement that facilitates money laundering
possessing criminal property

POCA 2002 imposes a duty to report knowledge or suspicion of money laundering, which is done by submitting a suspicious activity report (SAR)...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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