The U.K.'s Law Commission has published a report, entitled "Anti-money Laundering: the SARS Regime", setting out recommendations to improve the prevention, detection and prosecution of money laundering and terrorism financing in the U.K. The Law Commission began a review in 2017 into the U.K. anti-money laundering regime, focusing on the suspicious activity reporting (SAR) process and taking into account EU and U.K. anti-money laundering legislation and related legislation, such as the General Data Protection Regulation. Following the consultation, the Commission has decided not to recommend amendments to the primary legislation, but instead that more detailed guidance should be issued. As a result, and for example, new exceptions from the reporting regime will not be proposed, as has been argued by some aspects of industry for reports on low-value transactions or reports on issues which are already in the public domain. The Commission is making several recommendations to improve the existing system, including:

1. The establishment of a new Advisory Board to supervise the development of guidance and to advise the Secretary of State on potential improvements to the regime, including in relation to emerging threats.
2. A new online SAR report that is easier to use with the aim of ensuring more consistent data is provided to the U.K. Financial Intelligence Unit through these reports.
3. Creating an obligation for the Government to issue statutory guidance on key legal concepts within the framework so as to improve certainty around the obligation to report suspicious activities.

View the report.

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