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Q. What’s all this about yet another change in the money laundering rules?
A. I warned you about this nearly a year ago. Draft regulations were issued then, and there has been a lot of controversy about them. We now have the final version, and the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/2157) will come into force on 15 December 2007. They will replace entirely the Money Laundering Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/3075).
Q. How on earth am I supposed to find out about them?
A. Well, it wouldn’t do you any harm to get hold of a copy of the regulations. More importantly, the Law Society has just released draft guidance for a brief consultation period, with the hope that it can be finalised before the new regulations come into force. They are also intending, this time round, to apply for Treasury approval, which would give the guidance more status before the courts. It can be downloaded from the society website (see www.lawsociety.org.uk). It really is a good effort—much more practical than the previous version.
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