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The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 commenced on 26 June 2017 and replaced the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.
The regulations apply to:
The regulations do not generally apply to landlords. They do apply to estate agents, including estate agents who also carry out lettings business. They can also apply to letting agency work where the tenancy is for at least one month, and the rent meets the high-rent letting-agent threshold. From 30 June 2026, that threshold is £10,000 or more per month; before then, it remains 10,000 euros. The rules do not apply to a person who may fall under the listed activities if the person is engaging in financial activity on an occasional or minimal basis.
Occasional or very limited basis includes:
If the regulations apply, the requirements are more of a risk-based assessment than previously. Regulation 18(1) provides the relevant person must:
... take appropriate steps to identify and assess the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing to which its business is subject.
In carrying out the risk assessment, a relevant person must take into account—
In deciding what steps are appropriate, the relevant person must consider the size and nature of the business. Furthermore, a relevant person must keep an up-to-date record of all the steps it has taken (unless its supervisory authority notifies it in writing that such a record is not required).
The relevant person must provide the risk assessment it has prepared, the information on which that risk assessment was based, and any record required to be kept to its supervisory authority on request.
In addition to the risk assessment-based approach, the regulations require the relevant person to establish and maintain policies, controls and procedures to mitigate and manage the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing identified in the risk assessment.
The policies must be regularly reviewed and updated. The policies, controls and procedures must be recorded in writing and communicated to staff.
The policies will be proportionate to the size and nature of the business and must be approved by senior management.
The policies must include:
Appropriate measures must be taken to ensure all relevant employees are
A written record of training given must be maintained. When a risk assessment determines that a business relationship or transaction presents a low risk of money laundering, simplified customer due diligence may be applied.
A person failing to comply with the regulations could face a fine, imprisonment of up to 2 years or both.
HMRC has provided guidance for estate agency businesses that should be consulted for more in-depth information about the regulations. The advice is interim currently but will be reviewed in due course.