No replies.....I can aonly assume that I am REALLY unlucky!!

Anyway, perhaps I will have more luck with the following. I attach below the items that they want to see during their visit. What do you think the fourth one relates to??? Banking and settlements. Do you think this is relating to invoices from me to clients and payments from them? Do you think this means they want to check MY bank account?????

·         documents to confirm your identity

·         details of clients for whom you carry out relevant activities

·         evidence of customer identity and other due diligence and monitoring carried out;

·         banking and settlement records;

·         staff training records and procedure documents where appropriate; and

·         Suspicious Activity Reports (including internal reports).

Thanks!!

Thanks all!!

I will let you know how it goes. The guy on the phone did seem to be relaxed (almost apologetic) saying that it was partly a check and partly educational.....i.e., no penalties for non-compliance.

I am still anxious about the heading mentioned earlier....'banking and settlement records???

Hi Rachael, yes, it will be interesting how this visit goes.   I imagine SOCA may some role in the selection process.  You could always ask them as 'settlements' can have more than one meaning.

Don't know if you've had a look at HMRC re. visits :-

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/mlr/problems-checks/visits.htm

Hi CC, are you registered for MLR in Ireland as it would seem to be overkill to have to register twice.

TIm

Peasie wrote:

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Welcome to the forum Carol - does Ireland not have its own MLR you might need to comply with? Probably not as strict as the UK though. I believe the UK has gone further than any other country in what was originally brought in to deal with terrorists moving money about, the UK extended so that accountancy service providers became unpaid employees of HMRC.

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 Not only that Peasie but we have to pay them for the privelege!!

Good luck with the visit Rachael.... I would ask them what they mean by banking and settlements...they are fond of ambiguous language.

Pauline

As promised.............

Well....the visit came and went. I had organised a space at one of my clients (that offers function room hire amongst other things) and set out three chairs......the letter stated 'myself and my colleague.......(blank)' so I thought the colleague was still to be confirmed.

Anyway, just one inspector arrived and it was explained that because there are only half a dozen such inspectors dotted around the UK, it would prove inefficient to arrange a second inspector in such cases.

As for the visit, I had put together a front page listing my clients (around a dozen and mostly Ltd Co.'s), some passport copies (not all), some bank statements showing payment of my attached invoice (not all) and little else. I had also listed a few checkpoints on the front page.

It quickly became apparent that he was not going to delve to closely into my records and was just wanting to make sure that I understood my responsibilities. He was actually  a little apologetic.....he must get some grief!.......and realised that businesses like mine are a world away from high value cash businesses like scrap metal businesses. I expect to receive a follow up email and he has offered to send slides (no webinar yet!) of a recent HMRC MLR workshop. He also said I should register with SOCA.

So, as long as you are aware of the checks and your responsibilites and show an understanding, then everything should be fine. It was mostly an informal chat and the words he used a lot were 'common sense'. So the message is to use your common sense, but if you do see suspicious activity (and hopefully this should be obvious if it ever appears!), then you should report it.

I think at the end of the day, a new client form would be a good idea to draw up. Sight of passport/utility bill (as long as the passport number/address is recorded there is no need for photocopy) should be detailed on this form. You should probably add a section listing details such as co reg number/list of directors and also a summary of the business activities and the level of risk.

Hope this helps!!

Thanks for posting that Count, seems like you had everything in place well done.

Kirsty I wouldn't worry too much, Count's experience seems fine, just have the paperwork in order. I think they are more using this as a trial for the next few months.