ECSH85550 - The decision maker

The decision maker (DM) is the caseworker who makes the decision on the appropriate action and/or sanction to take to address breaches of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017). They are responsible for the decision and any subsequent appeal or review if the customer disagrees with the decision. As such, DMs should familiarise themselves with the information provided by HMRC Legal Group.

Any Economic Crime Supervision (ECS) officer can impose a sanction(s) where appropriate to do so, however, generally: 

  • Authorisations are responsible for raising sanctions relating to registration and approvals identified at the time an application for registration is received, an annual declaration is submitted, or when changes are made to the registration information (including EC-S Large Traders).
  • Authorisations fit and proper (F&P) teams are responsible for F&P decisions when an application for registration is received, when an annual declaration is submitted, when an annual declaration is submitted, or when a new Beneficial Owner, Officer, or Manager (BOOM) is added to a business’ registration.  They typically review F&P determinations every five years but can review these at any time after a determination has been made.
  • Authorisations are also responsible for F&P decisions relating to Money Service Business (MSB) agents.
  • Compliance Investigations are responsible for applying sanctions for identified breaches of relevant requirements where they have an open case. They may also decide that a business (or any of its BOOMs) are no longer F&P. This includes Policing the Perimeter (unregistered activity).

The “How we check compliance” section of the Handbook contains more information on the roles and responsibilities in operational teams.