A Day in the Life of a Law Firm MLRO & MLCO

Introduction

The Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) and Money Laundering Compliance Officer (MLCO) play a significant role in a law firm’s compliance with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (as amended) (AML Regs) and further, these roles carry personal responsibility with heavy penalties if not conducted properly.

Newcomers in particular may find the breadth of these roles to be daunting.

Fear not! This in-person seminar will provide you with a masterclass on the MLRO and MLCO requirements under the AML Regulations.

Delivered by compliance expert Rebecca Atkinson, who has written extensively on this subject, this course is essential for new and experienced law firm money laundering officers who would like practical guidance on how they can perform their role more effectively.

This seminar analyses the regulatory guidance in place for solicitors and is not suitable for those in other regulated sectors.

What You Will Learn

This course will cover the following:

• The legislative framework and POCA offences
• What are the roles of the MLRO and MLCO
• How do the roles overlap with each other and the COLP and COFA
• The Money Laundering Regulations
• Firm wide AML risk assessment- what is this, what is its purpose and how to undertake it
• Policies, controls and procedures overview
• What is a BOOM and what needs to be done if there is a new BOOM?
• People/staff screening - how, when and why?
• Independent AML audit
• AML Policy and what it needs to cover
• Client and matter risk assessments and what it should cover
• Client Due Diligence and what is needed for each type of client including discrepancy reporting
• Should you go electronic for your ID requirements
• PEPs, sanctions and adverse media
• Adopting different due diligence requirements for different types of work and the pros and cons
• The change in definition of tax advisor and whether this means your firm is now caught
• Source of funds and wealth - what this means and how to go about investigating it
• Reliance- what is it and should you allow it - and record keeping
• Trustee obligations under the regulations
• Training people in the firm - methods and frequencies
• Reporting suspicions internally, to the NCA and the Suspicious Activity Regime to include how to draft a report
• To centralise or not to centralise that is the question - how centralisation of compliance with the regulations might look and the pros and cons
• Legal Sector Affinity Guidance overview
• SRA Warning Notices overview
• SRA AML reviews - what to expect (to include an overview of the SRA’s latest AML Report) and how to prepare for an SRA visit
• What is on the SRA’s AML agenda and what does the future hold?