UK: anti-money laundering supervision responsibility shifts to new regulatory entity
The Law Society of England and Wales is urging the government to guard against overlapping regulatory requirements as responsibility for anti-money laundering (AML) supervision of legal and accountancy professionals transfers to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA is expected to become the single professional services supervisor for AML beginning in late 2028, with the transition scheduled for completion by 2030. While supporting stronger measures to combat economic crime, the Law Society is seeking greater clarity about how the new framework will operate and how responsibilities will be divided between the FCA and existing legal sector regulators. It warns that duplicated oversight could create additional burdens for law firms, particularly owners, managers and Money Laundering Reporting Officers, and calls for safeguards and impact assessments to ensure the reforms account for how legal services operate. The FCA has indicated that its planned responsibilities will include maintaining a public register of supervised firms, requiring registration for AML-regulated activities, cancelling registrations when firms no longer conduct those activities, and applying strengthened fit-and-proper assessments across the legal and accountancy sectors. The transition highlights the importance of clearly defining regulatory roles and coordinating oversight when responsibility for a specific compliance area shifts between agencies.