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Anti-money laundering: a call for clarity

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07 November 2025 / Mark Evans
Issue: 8138 / Categories: Opinion , Regulatory , Criminal
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The UK’s anti-money laundering supervisory regime is facing significant change: Mark Evans, president of the Law Society, sets out what this means for its members

Solicitors working to prevent the flow of money laundering from entering the UK market will face significant changes in the coming years. This follows a decision by the UK government to introduce a Single Professional Services Supervisor (SPSS) as part of its reform of the anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) supervision regime.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will take up this function, significantly reducing the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) role in tackling money laundering.

How did we get here?

The announcement comes two years after HM Treasury consulted on four models for reforming the UK’s AML supervisory regime.

These models included:

  • giving the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) additional powers;
  • consolidating the Professional Body Supervisor (PBS), which would combine the existing supervisors to leave either one accountancy sector supervisor and one legal sector supervisor, or one accountancy sector supervisor and one legal sector supervision for each jurisdiction (England
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