ECSH52025 - Introduction

What is a TCSP?

Regulation 12(2) of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017) defines Trust or Company Service Providers (TCSP) as a firm or sole practitioner who, by way of business, provides the following services:

  • Forming a firm.
  • Acting, or arranging for another person to act—
    • as a director or secretary of a company.
    • as a partner of a partnership; or
    • in a similar capacity in relation to other legal persons.
  • Providing a registered office, business address, correspondence or administrative address or other related services for a company, partnership or any other legal person or legal arrangement.
  • Acting, or arranging for another person to act, as—
    • a trustee of an express trust or similar legal arrangement; or
    • a nominee shareholder for a person other than a company whose securities are listed on a regulated market.

For a TCSP, provision of any of these services constitutes a business relationship, regardless of whether or not the relationship with the customer is expected to have an element of duration. This means that a TCSP will have a business relationship with ALL of its customers.

What is meant by "Director"?  

‘Director’ is defined in the Companies Act 2006. The name of anyone formally appointed as a director should be contained in the company’s register, available for inspection at the registered office and registered at Companies House.

What is a Trust?  

A trust is a way of managing assets (money, investments, land or buildings) for people. A trust can be created during the settlor’s lifetime or on death. Trusts are often created by a will. For further information on responsibilities within a trust, and different types, see: Trusts and taxes: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

It is not unusual for a TCSP to offer more than one of the services listed above. For example, businesses may offer packages that include company formation, provision of registered or business address and nominee services. In addition, some TCSPs also offer services that fall within the definition of an Accountancy Service Provider (ASP) and they are dually registered for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervision purposes. An example of this would be a business that acts as a professional trustee and also does accountancy or tax advisory work for customers.