UK Law Society is to change money laundering regulations
The UK Law Society has reached another stage in its attempt to change the draft money laundering regulations causing headaches among City lawyers in the UK.
On June 5, 2007, when meeting with the president of Law Society Fiona Wolf, Ed Balls MP informed that the Government had agreed to significantly change the definition of “beneficial ownership†in the draft bill, which has caused objections from City firms. According to Balls, the Treasury is now to consult on an extended definition of beneficial ownershipso that the necessary clarity would be given. To review the re-drafted definition that later will be provided to relevant stakeholders, the Society has 2 weeks at its disposal.
Woolf agreed that the Law Society for a long time has had concerns that the wording of the directive did not reflect the common law usage of trusts of the United Kingdom. He suggested that trusts “are used extensively in everyday life†and that “the definition of a beneficial owner was so unclear that it made it impossible for a solicitor to know who should be the subject of client due diligenceâ€.
It also should be noted that recently the Law Society recently has won support from European Commissioner Charlie McCreevey for its attempt to change the bill. The Law Society had provided the European Union with legal advice from Matrix Chambers, according to which the definition lacked clarity.