Overview

Barristers, chambers and BSB entities need to be aware of the risk of becoming involved in money laundering and/or terrorist financing and understand their obligations.

  • If you undertake work that falls within the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations, then you have specific obligations under the Regulations. These include the requirement to carry out a risk assessment, undertake Customer Due Diligence before acting, keep a record of your compliance with the Regulations and disclose suspicious activity to the authorities. You will need to be able to determine whether the service that you are providing to your client is subject to the Regulations. Read our guidance to help you understand whether the Regulations apply to your practice and your obligations.
  • If you are a barrister acting in a matter that is not covered by the Regulations, you still have an obligation not to commit an offence within the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Terrorism Act 2000. Read our guidance about your obligations.

The BSB is responsible for the supervision of barristers and BSB entities under the Money Laundering Regulations. Regulation 46 requires us to:

  • Adopt a risk-based approach (regulation 17).
  • Approve self-employed barristers and owners and managers of BSB entities to carry out work under the Regulations (regulation 26).
  • Publish an Annual Report containing information about supervision activity undertaken to encourage the reporting of actual or potential breaches of the Regulations and measures carried out to monitor, and enforce, compliance by barristers and BSB entities with their obligations (regulation 46A). 
  • Make a Suspicious Activity Report to the National Crime Agency if there is a suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing (regulation 46(5))
  • Provide information and guidance (regulation 47).
  • Appoint a responsible officer to monitor compliance with the Regulations (regulation 49(2)(b)).
  • Co-operate with other supervisory authorities, HM Treasury and law enforcement authorities (regulation 50(1)).
  • Provide a register of Trust and Company Service Providers to HMRC (regulation 54(2))

The BSB is subject to oversight regulation by the Office for Professional Body AML Supervision (OPBAS). OPBAS has published a Sourcebook on how the BSB and other professional body supervisors can meet their obligations in relation to ML/TF supervision.

Latest News

Government consultation on structural reform of supervision 

On 21 October 2025, HM Treasury announced the outcome of the consultation that was initiated by the previous Government in 2023 on reforming the supervisory regime. The Government has decided to proceed with the creation of a single professional services supervisor, which will be the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA will assume responsibility for supervising all legal, accountancy and trust and company service providers for AML/CTF purposes. This means that barristers and BSB entities that conduct work that engages the Regulations will be subject to supervision and enforcement action by the FCA in relation to that aspect of their practice. The full consultation response can be found here. This will need legislation, so will not take effect immediately, and there will be a transition period, with plans drawn up to transfer responsibility. 

A further consultation will be launched in November on potential powers and duties for the FCA in taking on these responsibilities. We will be working with HM Treasury, OPBAS, the FCA and other regulators during this transition period.  

The draft Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provision) Regulations 2025 Policy note 

On 2 September 2025, HM Treasury published a draft Statutory Instrument, the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provision) Regulations 2025, alongside a note detailing the policy intention. This includes proposed changes to customer due diligence and trust registration requirements. It follows a consultation in 2024 on improving the effectiveness of the Money Laundering Regulations and aims to close regulatory loopholes, address proportionality concerns, and account for evolving risks. The consultation closed on 30 September 2025 and the final instrument is expected to be laid in early 2026 and will come into force 21 days after being made.  

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002: money laundering threshold amount increased

On 31 July 2025, The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) (Threshold Amount) (Amendment) Order 2025 came into force.

The order increases the threshold amounts in section 339A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 from £1,000 to £3,000. Section 339A provides an exemption from committing a money laundering offence by setting a threshold where a Defence Against Money Laundering will not be needed.

The threshold is the value of criminal property below which a barrister can return money for the purposes of terminating the business relationship with a client, where criminal activity is suspected.

Further information and guidance can be found on GOV.UK.

National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing 2025 

On 17 July 2025, HM Treasury published its National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing 2025 (NRA). The NRA sets out the key money laundering and terrorist financing risks for the UK. You can read more about this on our money laundering risk assessment page. 

Changes to the LSAG Guidance, 23 April 2025

The Legal Sector Affinity Group has today published an updated version of its Guidance for the legal sector, which has been approved by HM Treasury. This replaces interim guidance that was published as addenda in 2024 pending HM Treasury approval.

Please see our guidance page for further details.

IMPORTANT: Barristers, BSB entities and chambers staff should read the Anti-Money Laundering Guidance for the Legal Sector in conjunction with R (on the application of World Uyghur Congress) v National Crime Agency [2024] EWCA Civ 715 in which the Court of Appeal held that the “adequate consideration” exemption in section 329(2)(c) has no application to the offences in section 327 or section 328 of the Proceeds of Crime Act. The guidance is in the process of being amended to reflect this judgment and we are working with other Supervisors to do so. In the meantime, the Bar Council has published a practice note to assist barristers, but it is important to note that this has not been approved by HM Treasury.

National Crime Agency and Suspicious Activity Reports 

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has a range of resources on its website including podcasts, information about making a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) and newsletters about action taken in response to SARs.

Whilst the National Crime Agency (NCA) has told us that it does not have particular concerns about the quality of SARs submitted by barristers, it continues to stress that the quality of a SAR, including as much detail possible, can affect their ability to prioritise and process the report. It can also affect the relevant agency’s decision or ability to investigate. You can read more about this, and how the NCA uses SARs, on their website.

If you require specific advice on making a SAR you can contact the Bar Council Ethical Enquiries Service for further assistance and guidance.

Protocol with the Bar Council

The General Council of the Bar is the designated Professional Body Supervisor under the Regulations. In line with our Protocol for ensuring regulatory independence, supervisory responsibility is delegated to the Bar Standards Board. We have a Protocol for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing with the Bar Council which sets our respective roles under the Regulations.

Contacting us with a concern about Money Laundering

The BSB’s Money Laundering Hotline is a confidential service that anyone can use to report a concern to us about a person or an organisation we regulate, in connection with Money Laundering.

If you have any comments or questions about this page, please contact us.

Last updated 30 Oct 2025