The Oversight of Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Supervision Regulations 2017
| Year | 2017 |
2017 No. 1301
Financial Services
The Oversight of Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Supervision Regulations 2017
Made 14th December 2017
Laid before Parliament 18th December 2017
Coming into force 18th January 2018
The Treasury are designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Treasury, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of that Act and by sections 168(4)(b) and 402(1)(b) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 20003, make the following Regulations.
PART 1
Introduction
Citation, commencement and extent
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Oversight of Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Supervision Regulations 2017 and come into force on 18th January 2018.
(2) Regulation 28 extends to Scotland only.
Interpretation
2. In these Regulations—
“The European Supervisory Authorities” means—
(a) the European Securities and Markets Authority;
(b) the European Banking Authority; and
(c) the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority;
“the FCA” means the Financial Conduct Authority;
“fourth money laundering directive” means Directive 2015/849/EUof the European Parliament and of the Council of 20th May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing4;
“FSMA” means the Financial Services and Markets Act 20005;
“the MLR” means the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 20176;
“self-regulatory organisation” means one of the professional bodies listed in Schedule 1 to the MLR;
“supervision requirement” means any requirement imposed by the MLR on a self-regulatory organisation (whether imposed on a self-regulatory organisation in terms or in its capacity as a supervisory authority within the meaning given by regulation 3 of the MLR).
Duties of the FCA
3. The FCA must have regard to the importance of ensuring that self-regulatory organisations comply with any supervision requirement—
(a) when discharging the FCA’s functions under these Regulations; and
(b) in drafting any guidance in relation to self-regulatory organisations that the FCA may issue under section 139A of FSMA7in relation to the MLR.
PART 2
Applications
Application to be added to Schedule 1 to the MLR
4.—(1) This Part applies where a person (“the applicant”) wishes to be added to the list of self-regulatory organisations in Schedule 1 to the MLR.
(2) The applicant must make an application to the FCA in such manner as the FCA may specify, setting out how the applicant proposes to meet the supervision requirements and providing such other information as the FCA may specify as part of the application.
(3) At any time after receiving an application and before making a recommendation to the Treasury concerning the application, the FCA may require the applicant to provide such further information as the FCA reasonably considers necessary to enable it to make the recommendation.
(4) Any information to be provided to the FCA under this regulation must be in such form and verified in such manner as the FCA may reasonably specify.
Determination of applications
5.—(1) Before the end of the period of 6 months beginning with the date on which the FCA receives the completed application, the FCA must make a recommendation to the Treasury as to whether the applicant should be added to Schedule 1 to the MLR.
(2) The FCA may consider an incomplete application if, in the FCA’s opinion, it is appropriate to do so, but must in any event make a recommendation to the Treasury concerning such an application within 12 months beginning with the date on which it receives the incomplete application.
(3) The Treasury must take the FCA’s recommendation into account when deciding whether to make regulations which add the applicant to Schedule 1 to the MLR.
PART 3
Information and directions
Interpretation
6. In this Part—
“body corporate”—
(a) includes—
(i) a body corporate incorporated under the laws of the United Kingdom or any part of the United Kingdom, and
(ii) a body corporate constituted under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom;
(b) but does not include—
(i) a corporation sole, or
(ii) a partnership that, whether or not a legal person, is not regarded as a body corporate under the law by which it is governed;
“connected person”, in relation to a self-regulatory organisation, means—
(a) if the self-regulatory organisation is a body corporate, any person who is or has been—
(i) an officer or manager of the body corporate;
(ii) an employee of the body corporate;
(iii) an agent of the body corporate;
(iv) an officer, manager or agent of a parent undertaking of the body corporate;
(b) if the self-regulatory organisation is a partnership, any person who is or has been a member, manager, employee or agent of the partnership;
(c) if the self-regulatory organisation is an unincorporated association of persons (other than a partnership), any person who is or has been a member, officer, manager, employee or agent of the association;
“manager”, in relation to a body corporate, partnership or other unincorporated association, means a person who has control, authority or responsibility for managing the business of that body, partnership or association;
“officer” means—
(a) in relation to a body corporate or a parent undertaking of a body corporate—
(i) a director, secretary, chief executive, member of the committee of management, or a person purporting to act in such a capacity, or
(ii) an individual who is a controller of the body, or a person purporting to act as a controller;
(b) in relation to an unincorporated association, any officer of the association or any member of its governing body, or a person purporting to act in such a capacity;
“officer of the FCA” means an officer or agent of the FCA or a member of the FCA’s staff;
“skilled person” means a person appointed under regulation 13(2).
Power to require information
7.—(1) The FCA may, by notice in writing to a person who is (or was at any time) a self-regulatory organisation or a connected person, require that person to—
(a)
(a) provide specified information, or information of a specified description;
(b)
(b) produce specified documents, or documents of a specified description; or
(c)
(c) attend before an officer of the FCA at a time and place specified in the notice and answer questions.
(2) The information or documents must be provided or produced—
(a)
(a) before the end of such reasonable period as may be specified; and
(b)
(b) at such place as may be specified.
(3) An officer of the FCA who has written authorisation from the FCA to do so may require a person who is (or was at any time) a self-regulatory organisation or a connected person without delay to—
(a)
(a) provide the officer with specified information or information of a specified description; or
(b)
(b) produce to the officer specified documents or documents of a specified description.
(4) The powers in this regulation may only be exercised in relation to information or documents which are reasonably required by the FCA in connection with the exercise by the FCA of any of its functions under these Regulations.
(5) Where the FCA or an officer of the FCA requires information to be provided or documents to be produced under paragraph (1) or (3), the FCA or the officer must give the reasons why the information is required to be provided or the documents produced, unless the disclosure of those reasons would be likely to prejudice any criminal investigation or criminal proceedings.
(6) An officer of the FCA may require—
(a)
(a) information contained in a computer or other storage device, or recorded in any other way otherwise than in legible form to be produced to it in legible form or in a form from which the information can readily be produced in visible and legible form, and
(b)
(b) any information provided under this regulation to be provided in such form as the officer may reasonably require.
(7) The production of a document does not affect any lien which a person has on the document.
Retention of documents provided under regulation 7
8.—(1) The FCA may retain any material which was provided under regulation 7 for so long as it is necessary to retain it (rather than copies of it) in connection with the exercise of the functions of the FCA under these Regulations for the purposes for which the information was required under regulation 7.
(2) If an officer of the FCA has reasonable grounds for suspecting that—
(a)
(a) the material may need to be produced for the purposes of legal proceedings, and
(b)
(b) it might otherwise be unavailable for those purposes,
it may be retained until the proceedings are concluded.
(3) A person claiming to be the owner of any material provided under regulation 7 may apply to the Crown Court or (in Scotland) the sheriff or the summary sheriff for an order for the delivery of the material to the person appearing to the court, the sheriff or the summary sheriff to be the owner.
(4) If on an application under paragraph (3) the court or (in Scotland) the sheriff or the summary sheriff cannot ascertain who is the owner of the material the court, the sheriff or the summary sheriff may make such order as the court, the sheriff or the summary sheriff thinks fit.
(5) An order under paragraph (3) or (4) does not affect the right of any person to take legal proceedings against any person in possession of material for the recovery of the...
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