I have been asked to do some work for a local accountant doing some of the bookkeeping for his clients. Presumably he will have done money laundering checks on the clients but do I need to ask him for his ID? It's not his finances I'm working on and the end client will have been checked.
Normally speaking an accountant would employ you as a sub-contractor and would have a contract that suggests you are working under his MLR/practice license.
Hmm. He doesn't seem to have one of those. I could give him my standard letter of engagement I suppose. Does anyone have a clause that they use to cover that sort of thing?
I'm in a similar position, spoke to the HMRC and they told me to send my query in via email so I did on Tuesday. Still waiting for a reply but will let you know once I do.
Regulation 17 of the money laundering regulations allow businesses to rely on certain other persons provided they agree to being relied upon, but you will still remain liable to prosecution for any failures by the person you have relied upon if they have not conducted proper due diligence.
Provided the accountants who are referring clients to you are registered with one of the professional bodies or supervisory bodies listed in the money laundering regulations at Schedule 3 part 1, you can rely on them to have conducted proper due diligence procedures, subject to their agreement.
Please be aware that if there is anything suspicious, you should report this to the Serious Organised crime Agency, and not to HMRC
Hmm. Thanks for that. The accountant I'm working for is not referring clients to me, they are his clients, I am just doing the bookkeeping for him, he still has the relationship with the client. I'm not sure HMRC's answer covers that. Basically what they seem to be saying is that it will be our fault whatever!
If you are not directly engaging the client then his money laundering checks will cover you.
However as you probably already know the money laundering regulations hold you responsible for not reporting any which looks suspicious, regardless of if you are engaged to the client or not. You are also supposed to report it if you spot anything during your personal life too!!
