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Joanna King

SRA Update – maintaining focus on money laundering

Written by: Joanna King, Legal and Compliance Analyst, Ochresoft Technologies, May 2019

Legal professionals have long played a vital role in the collective fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, and the recent SRA Update from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) continues to highlight money laundering as one of the top priority risks.

Consequently, it shouldn’t be at all surprising that effective processes and compliance with obligations arising under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, Money Laundering Regulations 2017, and the SRA’s own rules are the focus of the Regulator’s recent monitoring checks.

Law firms that undertake regulated activities have a number of obligations to meet. Practice-wide risk assessment, robust controls, procedures and record keeping as well as ongoing training of staff should sit at the heart of each firm’s AML policy.

Intelliworks specialist legal software includes a wide-ranging suite of documents and tools to support your firm in achieving AML compliance:

  • Comprehensive forms and questionnaires to support thorough Customer Due Diligence (CDD);
  • Electronic ID Check – fully integrated with the result returned directly into the case;
  • Documentation and prompts to establish the source of funds;
  • Comprehensive transaction & client risk assessment forms to support the client onboarding stage, ongoing monitoring and assessment of the extent of CDD measures – drafted in full consideration of the Legal Sector Affinity Group’s Anti-Money Laundering Guidance (as well as further guidance from the Law Society, the SRA and the Council for Licenced Conveyancers).

To find out how Intelliworks can help your firm achieve AML compliance, contact Ochresoft on 03300 366700 to request a free demo.

 

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