ECSH34001 - How we check compliance: outcomes - introduction

Outcomes are determined on a case-by-case basis by you as the decision maker, using the evidence you have gathered to support your decision. You must consider:

  • what actions the business took to comply, alongside what you know about the business, for example, its size and the resources available to it
  • its actions and behaviours in relation to your enquiries
  • its previous compliance history
  • the actual or potential impact of any regulatory breaches

There are a range of outcomes which will differ depending on your area of work. These include:

  • no further action / closure letter
  • written advice
  • warning letter - ECSH85675
  • financial penalties - ECSH85700
  • fit and proper determination - ECSH45025
  • removal of approval - ECSH45075
  • prohibition on management - ECSH85900
  • refusing the business’s anti money laundering (AML) registration - ECSH47525
  • suspension of the business’s AML registration - ECSH85850
  • cancellation of the business’s AML registration - ECSH85875
  • censuring statements - ECSH85925
  • Injunctions - ECSH85950

If you have been unable to check the business’s compliance with Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017), follow the guidance at ECSH34020 What if you’re unable to check the business’s compliance with MLR 2017.

If you have not identified any areas of non-compliance, follow the guidance at ECSH34025.

Where you have identified that the business has not complied with a relevant requirement, you must consider the most appropriate sanction to bring the business up to an acceptable level of compliance and reduce the risk of money laundering, terrorist financing and/or proliferation financing. To do this, you should carry out a “Regulation 83 review” following the guidance at ECSH85625.

If considering imposing a penalty, you must read the guidance in ECSH82525.  

You must not issue a penalty if the business took “all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence” to ensure that the requirement would be complied with – see ECSH34005.

You must clearly explain the outcome of your check to the business, either by letter or via secure comms – see ECSH110000.