Living with the Law: A Survey of Money‐Laundering Reporting Officers and Their Attitudes towards the Money‐Laundering Regulations

Abstract

While researching a recent money‐laundering compliance project, it became clear that, even after three years of practical exposure to the Money Laundering Regulations, there was still a disparate cross‐section of attitudes towards the law and its implementation, among those men and women appointed to the role of Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLROs). Recognising that it is the responsibility of these individuals, to ensure a willing and uniform compliance with the law on behalf of their employing institutions, it was felt that the time was right to conduct a survey, not of their direct understanding of the Regulations, of which it was accepted they would all have a good knowledge; but of their appreciation of some of the peripheral aspects of the rapidly developing impact of international money‐laundering law. The aim was to examine their attitudes towards specific aspects of ensuring the provision of good compliance, and to ascertain whether there were any other areas of compliance in which further training was particularly identified as being necessary.