Firms that are not registered are not permitted under the MLR2017 to provide TCSP work.
MLR2017 Requirements
Under MLR2017 a trust or company service provider is any firm or sole practitioner whose business is to:
form companies or other legal persons
provide a registered office, business address, correspondence address, administrative address for a company, partnership, other legal person or arrangement
act or arrange for another person to act as a:
director or secretary of a company
partner (or in a similar position) for other legal persons
trustee of an express trust or similar legal arrangement
nominee shareholder for another person, unless the other person is a company listed on a regulated market which is subject to acceptable disclosure requirements
A person is still considered to be a TCSP provider even if these services are provided incidentally to other accountancy services, or they are provided infrequently or on a one-off basis.
HMRC’s TCSP registration guidance provides further information on what constitutes a TCSP.
HMRC’S TCSP Register
In order to maintain the TCSP register, HMRC has requested that AIA (along with the other professional body supervisors) to notify HMRC of all the firms that we supervise that perform TCSP work.
AIA adds relevant firm details to HMRC’s TCSP register based on your firm return information. The details on the register include:
the name of your firm or your name if you are a sole practitioner
the registered address of your firm
confirmation by the AIA that the beneficial owners, officers and managers are fit and proper.
If you do not undertake any TCSP activity, and do not have any plans to undertake TCSP activity in the future, then you should notify us to have your business removed from the TCSP register.
If you later wish to undertake TCSP work then you will need to notify AIA and wait until your business has been registered with HMRC prior to undertaking any TCSP activity.
If you are not sure whether or not your business will undertake TCSP activity in the future, you may remain registered with HMRC in order that you can legally perform TCSP activity if and when you decide to do so.
Access to the TCSP Register
The TCSP register will be made accessible to law enforcement agencies on request and to the extent permitted by the regulations. Details from the TCSP register may also be given in response to requests from other UK or overseas supervisors or other authorities to the extent permitted under the MLRs.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
If a firm provides TCSP work and it is not on the TCSP register, the firm is breaching the MLR2017 and action may be taken by HMRC, AIA or both. Penalties for breaching the regulations include HMRC criminal and civil penalties as well as disciplinary action by AIA.
Changes to your Firm Details or Services Provided
You must notify AIA immediately by emailing aml@aiaworldwide.comwithin 30 days of the following changes in order that AIA can update HMRC’s TCSP register and you can maintain compliance with the regulatory requirements:
changes to the name of your firm or your name if you are a sole proprietor, the registered address of your firm or
any change in beneficial owners, officers or managers of the firm
If there are changes to beneficial owners, officers or managers then AIA will need to confirm to HMRC that they are fit and proper. Further guidance will be provided on notification.
acting as a director or secretary of a company under an arrangement with a person other than the company;
arranging for another person to act as a director or secretary of a company;
acting, or arranging for a person to act, as a partner of a partnership;
providing a registered office, business address, correspondence or administrative address or other related services for a body corporate or partnership;
acting, or arranging for another person to act, as a trustee of a trust;
acting, or arranging for another person to act, as a nominee shareholder for a person other than a company whose securities are listed on a regulated market.
If your firm is supervised by AIA you are required to disclose to AIA whether you offer any of the services set out above, and if so what percentage of your overall practice work it constitutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
The TCSP register is a register held by HMRC of all relevant persons in the UK that act or may potentially act as TCSPs, except for relevant persons registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
TCSP activity is set out in The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the “MLR2017”) at Regulation 12 (2). It includes:
company formation
acting or arranging for someone to act as a director or secretary of a company, 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
acting or arranging for someone to act as a trustee of an express trust or nominee shareholder for someone not listed on a regulated market.
HMRCs registration guidance provides further detailed information on what constitutes TCSP activity.
Businesses must be registered with HMRC prior to undertaking any TCSP activity.
AIA has identified that its supervised population and Members in Practice may undertake TCSP activity, or that these businesses may potentially undertake TCSP activity in the future.
AIA has therefore registered all relevant members with HMRC so that they are legally able to continue acting as a TCSP, or perform TCSP activity in the future.
The MLR2017 introduced a requirement for businesses that undertake TCSP activity to register with HMRC, unless they are already registered with the FCA.
To register your business with HMRC, AIA has listed the following information about your business on HMRC’s TCSP register:
your business name (or your name if you are a sole proprietor)
your registered address
confirmation that the beneficial owners, officers and managers of your business are fit and proper.
Yes. Any business undertaking any TCSP activity as defined in the MLR2017 must be registered with HMRC before undertaking any TCSP activity, even if only undertaking this on an occasional basis.
If you do not undertake any TCSP activity, and do not have any plans to undertake TCSP activity in the future, then you should notify AIA to have your business removed from the TCSP register.
However, if you later wish to undertake TCSP activity you will need to notify AIA and wait until AIA has registered your business with HMRC before undertaking TCSP activity.
If you are not sure whether or not your business will undertake TCSP activity in the future, you may remain registered with HMRC so that you can legally perform TCSP activity if and when you decide to do so.
You must be registered with HMRC before undertaking TCSP activity, unless you are already registered with the FCA.
If you do not act as a TCSP and do not intend to, you can contact your professional body supervisor and ask them to remove you from the TCSP register.
If your details are not in the TCSP register, you must not act as a TCSP.
If you act as a TCSP without being registered with HMRC or the FCA, you will have committed an offence and may be liable to civil or criminal action.
Yes. Regulation 52(1) of the MLR2017 provides legal authority for professional body supervisors to disclose relevant information to HMRC for the effective exercise of their functions under the regulations. Regulation 54(2)(c) gives HMRC a duty to maintain a register of relevant persons who are TCSPs.
No. Being registered with HMRC as a TCSP is not the same as being supervised for anti-money laundering by HMRC. You will continue to be supervised for anti-money laundering by your professional body supervisor, unless an existing dual supervision agreement is in place.
HMRC is unlikely to need to contact you directly about your TCSP registration and you can expect to receive communications about your registration via AIA.
If you have any questions about your TCSP registration, you should contact AIA by email on compliance@aiaworldwide.com.
If HMRC does need to contact you directly, it will do so by letter to your registered address.
HMRC will only use your information for relevant purposes within the law, and only disclose it further when permitted to do so in the law.
HMRC will store all of your data in accordance with our data retention policies, which means we will keep it for the duration of your registration plus five years, as allowed in the law.
HMRC will also store all of your data securely and in accordance with central government standards.
You don’t need to do anything unless the details of your business change, for example, you change the name of your business, your registered address or your beneficial owners, officers or managers.
You should notify AIA if any of your information changes, including any information that may impact on the fit and proper status of your beneficial owners, officers or manager. AIA will update your registration information with HMRC if required.
HMRC does not currently charge for your registration with HMRC through AIA.
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