Anti-money-laundering and trust and company services

The Law Society and the Department of Justice and Equality have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) about:

• Trust and company legal services, and
• Trust and company service providers (TCSPs).

Solicitors can download the MOU from the Society's website under Anti-Money Laundering (AML).

The purpose of the MOU is to clarify the division of responsibilities regarding which competent authority is responsible for (a) trust and company legal services and (b) TCSPs.

The MOU does not introduce any new regulatory obligations for solicitors or new monitoring obligations for the Law Society and does not amend the Law Society’s Guidance Notes for Solicitors on Anti-Money-Laundering Obligations, which solicitors can download.

Solicitors can learn more about how the Law Society fulfils its obligations as a competent authority in chapter 13 of the guidance notes.

John Elliot,

Registrar of Solicitors and Director of Regulation