Advice regarding compliance with anti-money laundering (“AML”) regulations where funds are received from a joint bank account involving a non-customer
The client, a Fintech deposit taking bank, wanted to ensure full compliance with its obligations under relevant AML regulations when accepting deposits into either single or jointly held savings accounts where the source of funds was a nominated account involving a non-customer. In essence, was there a requirement to complete a full customer due diligence (“CDD”) procedure on each third-party account co-owner when accepting deposits from the nominated account?
Our scope of work incorporated a detailed review of key pieces of legislation and guidance including the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group guidance and the FCA’s Financial Crime Guide. Ultimately it was considered that the FCA will want to see evidence of a risk-based approach with the client considering what the particular risks are in relation to the scenario, how to mitigate those risks and applying an approach documented in writing which is proportionate to the risks.
The client required a practical solution that could be easily understood and disseminated to employees. Tenet was therefore able to put forward an initial two-step assessment to enable the client to gather and document the required information without the need for a full CDD procedure on every occasion resulting in a significant time/cost saving to the client.
