Anti-money Laundering

Money laundering is where criminals attempt to hide and disguise the true origin and ownership of their criminal proceeds, helping them to avoid prosecution, conviction and confiscation of the funds.

Failure to prevent money laundering would make it easier to profit from crime. Consumers, the financial sector, the economy and society as a whole would then be worse off.

The BSA helps prevent money laundering by providing guidance on anti-money laundering processes, disseminating information on latest trends in money laundering and through it's input to the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group.

The Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) is a body that aims to promote good practice in countering money laundering and give practical assistance in interpreting UK Money Laundering Regulations. It is made up of leading UK trade associations in the financial services industry, including the BSA.

The JMLSG's latest guidance aims to enable financial services firms to take a sharper, risk-based approach to the international fight against financial crime. This guidance is designed to reflect the reality that most customers are not criminals. Their approach to anti-money laundering will now allow firms to

• focus resources on the minority of customers who represent a higher risk
• reduce the documentation needed to verify the identity of non-personal customers
• simplify the document requirements by which most individuals have to 'prove' their identity
• encourage wider use of electronic means of verification of identity
• reduce unnecessary duplication of identity checks
• provide additional guidance, tailored to particular business areas, to take account of special features in a number of sectors

The BSA will continue to share knowledge of developing trends and effective processes for the prevention of money laundering, as well as contributing to JMLSG consultations.