§ Lord Wakehamasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the answer by the Lord Davies of Oldham on 3 June (HL Deb, col. 1161), what steps they propose to take to encourage the Financial Services Authority to ensure that the financial institutions continue to pursue illegal money laundering but at the same time lessen the bureaucratic burdens that have been placed on their clients. [HL3197]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyFinancial institutions are required by the Money Laundering Regulations (which implement an EU directive) and rules by the Financial Services Authority to take reasonable steps to identify their customers The UK's anti-money laundering regime is designed to be flexible and proportionate to risk in order to minimise the burden on customers. Neither the regulations nor the rules prescribe detailed requirements as to how identification should be done. Detailed guidance is provided in the Guidance Notes issued by the industry's Joint Money Laundering Steering Group. Both the Treasury and the FSA encourage the industry not to take an unduly bureaucratic approach to the identification requirements.