The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will serve as the sole anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorist-financing (CTF) supervisor for the UK’s legal, accountancy and trust and company service provider sectors under a plan announced on Tuesday.
In its consultation response, HM Treasury said it will implement the “Single Professional Services Supervisor” (SPSS) model, transferring AML/CTF supervision of professional services firms to the FCA.
The change will bring these professions “in line with all other sectors in scope of the [Money Laundering Regulations], which are already overseen by public bodies,” replacing the current patchwork that includes three public supervisors and nearly two dozen professional body supervisors (PBSs).
“Despite the efforts of the existing supervisors, the current regime is complex and disjointed,” said Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby in a statement. “The fact that there are 23 different supervisors for professional services firms inevitably leads to inconsistencies in supervision and enforcement and complicates essential collaboration with law enforcement agencies.”
Details on the plan’s implementation will be contingent on further legislation, funding arrangements and a detailed transition plan, Treasury said. A separate consultation on the supervisor’s powers will be issued in early November.
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