Emma RadmoreTreasury has confirmed how the new Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) will work to help supervisors and law enforcement work together more effectively to tackle money laundering. OPBAS will work to set the standards the 25 AML supervisors under the 2017 MLRs must meet. Treasury has published draft new regulations with a further short consultation on OPBAS’ operation. This includes discussion of the potential penalties, where OPBAS looks to publicly censure a professional body or recommend its removal from the approved list of supervisors, and safeguards that apply where it wants to use these powers. Treasury says FCA will issue its own separate consultation on how it expects these bodies to comply with their obligations and on the fees OPBAS will raise. It asks for comments by 16 August.
