As tax practitioners Landmark PT are required to consider and abide by UK anti-money laundering legislation.

The requirements of the UK anti-money laundering regime are mainly set out in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) (as amended) and the Money Laundering Regulations 2007. This legislation has been interpreted in a document released by the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) entitled Anti-Money Laundering Guidance for the Accountancy Section and includes supplementary guidance for tax practitioners. HM Treasury has approved this guidance and the courts must consider the content of this guidance when determining whether a tax advisor’s conduct gives rise to an offence under the legislation referred to above.

SUPERVISED BY A SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY

One key element of the anti-money laundering legislation and the associated guidance is that a tax advisor should be supervised by a supervisory authority who will assess an advisor’s compliance with money laundering legislation and if necessary take appropriate action to ensure compliance by the advisor concerned. In the case of Landmark PT we are supervised by the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

CUSTOMER DUE DILIGENCE

Another important cornerstone of the legislation and our obligations relates to the need for tax advisors to carry out effective ‘customer due diligence’ when establishing a business relationship with all clients. This involves the tax advisors being able to demonstrate to their supervisory body that they have identified and verified the identity of clients using documents or information from reliable and independent sources. In certain circumstances this process includes identifying the beneficial owner of a client and understanding the ownership and control structure in place behind the client entity.