Elevate your Compliance and Security with Intelect Group. Our monthly round up of news items which are of particular relevance to those businesses regulated for the purposes of Anti-Money Laundering.
‘We prevent bad things happening to good people and their businesses’.
Cyber Security
Warning from the National Audit Office to the UK Government
The National Audit Office has warned the Government that the threat to the UK is ‘severe’ and advancing quickly.
Among the areas of concern are a shortage of relevant skills and ageing IT systems.
The watchdog found that more than 50 percent of positions in several departments’ cyber security teams were vacant in 2023/24. Additionally, at least 228 outdated IT systems were in use as of March 2024, with officials unable to assess their vulnerability to attacks.
Note: How does your organisation fare with its cyber resilience? Have you checked recently?
Organised Crime
Social media and people smuggling
The UK’s National Crime Agency has triggered the removal of over 8,000 social media accounts linked to people smuggling. This figure represents more than 90 percent of all referrals made during the 12 months ending December.
This marks a significant increase from the 5,600 accounts removed in 2023, bringing the total to over 16,500 since the NCA began collaborating with four major social media companies just over three years ago.
Among those removed are posts falsely promoting small boat crossings from France to the UK as speedboat journeys, posts offering prizes to migrants who refer friends, accounts offering transport from Africa to southern Europe, and posts selling fake ID documents.
Note – If you identify a suspicious social media post, report it to Action Fraud in the first instance.
Regulatory
Does an AML breach constitute misconduct?
An important appeal started on the 29th of January in the High Court in London to determine if a breach of the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) also breaches the SRA code of conduct. Mrs Justice Lang is hearing the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) appeal against the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s (SDT) ruling that Dentons’ breach was “inadvertent” and did not constitute professional misconduct.
The SDT found that Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, relied on information from a relationship partner who brought a politically exposed client from Salans during their 2013 merger. The tribunal noted that the breach was not systemic and praised Dentons for its anti-money laundering systems, concluding that this incident fell within a small category of non-misconduct cases.
The SRA argues that Dentons violated both SRA principles and specific legal requirements. Among the appeal’s grounds is the assertion that the tribunal misdirected itself by deciding that a legislative breach did not equate to misconduct. Dentons insists that any breach was unintentional and highlights its commitment to regulatory compliance and enhanced procedures since the incident.
Note – One to monitor
