Posts Tagged ‘SAR’s’
26.08.09 BTC Challenges HMRC over right to view SAR’s on supervisor compliance visits
Posted by: BTC in General Information & FAQ's, HMRC News and Guidance, Professional Bodies on August 26th, 2009
BTC Challenges HMRC over right to view SAR’s on supervisor compliance visits
HMRC has published its Code of Practice for supervisory purposes for visits to businesses under Money Laundering Regulations (COP28). This Code of Practice tells you what you can expect from HMRC Supervisory staff and what they expect of you when they visit your business under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.
This is a simple but very helpful document for preparing for a supervisory visit under the Regulations, however one item contained within the documents raised concern for Steve O’Neill of BTC, namely;
Examples of business records the officer is likely to want to see include:
“Records/copies of suspicious transactions, action taken, copies of any Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR’s) submitted to the Serious Organised Crime Agency and any correspondence from them concerning consent. We will look at Suspicious Activity Reports for anti-money laundering legislation purposes only and not for tax purposes”.
It is Steve O’Neill’s (Business Tax Centre’s BTC) understanding that SAR’s are an individual’s obligations covered under the Proceeds of Crime Act and not covered under the Money Laundering Regulations which covers a ‘Firms’ obligations to put into place appropriate policies and procedures for the prevention, detection and reporting of suspicious activity, and not the actual SAR itself which has a subjective test and offences which are covered in PoCA.
When HMRC regulatory team was asked about their powers to view a SAR, they responded by way of reference to two sections of the Regulations. One of these references was to CDD only and the other to refers to the ‘Policy and Procedures’ for reporting.
These correspondences have been passed on to other supervisory authorities who can confirm that their opinion also states that the ML Regulations do not give authority for a supervisor to view a SAR, which should only be done by an accredited and trained financial investigator.
We understand from a response received from these bodies that this subject will be raised with HMRC at the next ‘affinity group’ meeting of accountancy and taxation supervisors.
If HMRC point of view is upheld, then the Treasury approved CCAB guidance and the notes of each professional boy will need to be updated accordingly. We will post updates as we receive them.
Visit the BTC website for compliance help and support for firms in the regulated sector.
Q. When do I submit a SAR to SOCA?
Posted by: BTC in General Information & FAQ's, SOCA - Latest News on October 4th, 2008
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 expanded, reformed and consolidated the UK’s criminal money laundering offences. Most of the offences under the Act apply to all individuals and businesses in the UK, however, some apply only to those doing business in the ‘regulated sector’.
A SAR should be made as soon as the knowledge or suspicion that criminal proceeds exist has arisen, especially if consent may be required, or at the earliest opportunity thereafter.
SOCA’s preferred method for reporters to submit their suspicion is the SOCA Suspicious Activity Report Form. SOCA prefers these forms to be submitted electronically but hardcopy versions of the forms (including Limited Intelligence Value Reports) can be found on the SOCA website or obtained directly from SOCA. These can then be posted to the address below. Hardcopy consent requests should be faxed to 0207 238 8286.
If you currently submit by post but would like to report electronically visit the SAR Online System or alternatively contact the Money.web support team
Acknowledgement Letters
SOCA will not acknowledge any SAR sent by fax, post, or by letter. Electronic submissions through money.web, bulk submission or through the SAR Online system, will receive an acknowledgment which will include an automatically generated ELMER reference number.
If you have submitted a consent request, the Consent Team will contact you directly with the decision by telephone within the seven day notice period, and then post the appropriate letter to you as confirmation.
If you have any queries relating to acknowledgments please write to the SAR Team at UKFIU, PO BOX 8000, London, SE11 5EN.
Visit the BTC website for compliance help and support for firms in the regulated sector.
Assets Recovery Agency Merges into SOCA
Posted by: BTC in AML Legislation updates, SOCA - Latest News on April 4th, 2008
The Serious Crime Act 2007 extends the Civil Recovery and Taxation powers of the Assets Recovery Agency to SOCA and, also, the Civil Recovery powers to the major prosecuting bodies. This is a significant step towards mainstreaming the powers across law enforcement agencies. The Act also provided for the merger of ARA and SOCA, with the effect that from 1st April 2008, SOCA will undertake civil recovery and tax investigations in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.
Those cases that are currently the responsibility of ARA will be transferred to SOCA and the current casework will continue to be supported. Whilst other agencies are developing their civil recovery capabilities, SOCA will continue to provide support to law enforcement agencies by taking on cases referred to it, where the use of civil recovery and tax powers would be in the public interest.
What Remains the Same?
Where a law enforcement agency or prosecution authority has a criminal case after 1st April, which it has been unable to prosecute successfully; it will be able to refer it to SOCA to consider adopting it for civil recovery and/or assessing for tax. It must meet the following criteria:
• Recoverable property must have been identified and have an estimated value of at least £10,000
• Recoverable property must include property other than cash or negotiable instruments (although cash is recoverable if it is in addition to other property)
• There must be evidence of criminal conduct that is supported to the civil standard of proof, i.e. on the balance of probabilities.
Civil Recovery and Taxation (through the Proceeds of Crime Act) in Northern Ireland will be undertaken by SOCA. SOCA will retain the capacity to provide support to partners in Northern Ireland to support the ministerial assurances that there will be no reduction in the resource available for asset recovery in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, Civil Recovery powers will still be exercised by the Civil Recovery Unit of the Crown Office.
The Confidential Hotline for Civil Recovery and Tax in Northern Ireland is 028 0931 5039.
ARA’s power to issue tax assessments where the income can be linked to criminality will also transfer to SOCA. This means that SOCA and HM Revenue and Customs will be able to co-ordinate their efforts to recover criminal profits and bring criminals within the tax system.
SOCA will also maintain the Joint Asset Recovery Database (JARD) which records asset recovery information for all law enforcement activity across the UK and provide support to financial investigators on using the service.
Visit the BTC website for compliance help and support for firms in the regulated sector.
