TRSM70010 - Discrepancy reporting: contents: Introduction

Relevant Persons (see TRSM24020) have certain obligations under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (as amended) (the MLRs) when either establishing, or maintaining an existing Business Relationship (see TRSM24010) with a registrable trust.

Firstly, prior to establishing a Business Relationship, Relevant Persons are required to check that the trust is registered (if applicable) on the Trust Registration Service (TRS), and the information is up to date; and secondly, in line with their obligations to carry out ongoing monitoring, Relevant Persons should carry out discrepancy checks in accordance with their internal organisational risk assessments, policies, and procedures.

Relevant Persons can discharge their obligations by:

  • requiring the trustee or agent to provide an up-to-date excerpt from the register, if the trust is required to be registered (see TRSM20000)
  • checking for any material discrepancies (see TRSM70050) between information contained in the excerpt and any information which otherwise becomes available to Relevant Persons in the course of carrying out their duties under the Money Laundering Regulations

The excerpt of the register

The MLRs require Relevant Persons to review an ‘excerpt from the register’ or to inspect the register. The HMRC Proof of Registration document (PoR) is the excerpt of the register. For details of the PoR see TRSM70040.

Resolution of discrepancies

If Relevant Persons find a discrepancy in trust data when reviewing the excerpt, in most cases they may wish to seek to resolve them (see TRSM70050) with the trustee or agent in the first instance. If there are any material discrepancies, Relevant Persons should request that the trustee/agent update TRS / register the trust prior to the commencement of a Business Relationship. If Relevant Persons cannot resolve the material discrepancy directly with the trustee/agent, they must report the discrepancy to HMRC.

Where Relevant Persons have discovered what they believe to be a material discrepancy in the excerpt of the register, they should consider carefully whether they should cease / suspend their Business Relationship until the material discrepancy is resolved. Relevant Persons are advised to refer to their organisation’s risk assessments, policies, and procedures before commencing or continuing a Business Relationship in these circumstances.