ECSH32820 - What to establish

You should carry out the basic checks referred to in the initial review to understand what to establish when conducting your initial contact.  

During the initial contact, you should establish and record the following information: 

  • Whether or not the business is a relevant person under regulation 8 of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017). If not, a visit isn’t needed and the business needs to deregister). 
  • Who is responsible for compliance with MLR 2017 and the roles and responsibilities of staff. This is so that you can ensure that all relevant beneficial owners, officers and managers (BOOMs) have passed the appropriate approval/fit and Proper test and that you speak to the right people.
  • Who will be present during the compliance check: this could be the business owner, nominated officer, other BOOMs and members of staff within the business, as well as any external advisors or legal representatives. 
  • Whether there is anything about their health or personal circumstances that may make it difficult for them to deal with this check so that you can help (see ECSH32926).
  • What the business activities involve in order to gain an understanding  of the business.
  • What the business model is (see ECSH33120). 
  • Who the business’s clients or customers are. 
  • Where transaction or client records are held. 
  • Additional information specific to the sectors (see ECSH32825). 
  • Any additional information specified in the campaign Project Information Document.
  • Whether the registration details from ETMP are correct and up to date (see the operational guidance in ECSH32731 and ECSH33100).
  • Whether the business is happy to communicate by email (see the operational guidance in ECSH32812.
  • Whether the business has a current written risk assessment (RA) and policies, controls and procedures (PCP) document, and when these were last updated.
  • If the RA and PCP is stored digitally and how long it would take for the business to send it to you? You should consider what would be a reasonable time frame given what you know about the business from your initial review and initial contact, ensuring that it is appropriate.  

There is further information regarding RA and PCP documents in ECSH32825.