Money laundering is the process of disguising the origins of money gained through criminal activity. It allows individuals or groups to make illegal profits appear legitimate—enabling them to use or invest those funds without drawing attention to their source.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. The inter-governmental body sets international standards that aim to prevent these illegal activities and the harm they cause to society. As a policy-making body, the FATF works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.
Criminals use money laundering to:
This process is often linked to serious crimes such as:
Money laundering is not just a financial crime—it enables a wide range of harmful activities, from modern slavery to terrorism. Even unintentional involvement can have serious consequences, including:
According to the UK’s National Risk Assessment (2020), professionals in accountancy, law, and property are often targeted by criminals seeking to legitimise illicit funds. Your expertise can be misused to give illegal transactions a false sense of credibility.
That’s why accountants play a vital role in protecting the economy and wider society. By staying alert and reporting suspicious activity, you help uphold the integrity of the profession and the public’s trust.
AIA supervises its practising members for the purposes of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (amended 2019), where AIA is listed in schedule 1 as an approved supervisory body.
In the Republic of Ireland AIA is a designated body under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act and SI No. 578/2019 – European Union (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Regulations 2019.
These regulations require all practising accountants and firms offering accountancy services to take proportionate steps to deter, detect, and disrupt money laundering and terrorist financing.
Anyone providing accountancy services must be supervised by an approved body. Operating without supervision is a criminal offence.
Accountants play a vital role in protecting the financial system. As trusted professionals, you are in a unique position to detect and prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (as amended), any firm or individual providing accountancy, tax, audit, insolvency, or trust and company services must be supervised by a recognised professional body listed in Schedule 1 of the regulations. AIA is one of these approved supervisory bodies. If you provide accountancy services, you must:
Failing to meet these obligations is a criminal offence and could result in fines, prosecution, or loss of your professional status.
As an approved supervisory body under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, AIA is regulated by the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS). OPBAS was established by the UK government to strengthen the UK’s AML regime and ensure consistent, high-quality supervision across all professional bodies.
AIA works in the public interest as an active member of the Accountancy AML Supervisors’ Group (AASG). Through this group, we collaborate with HM Treasury, the Home Office, and the National Crime Agency to represent our members’ views and share timely, practical guidance.
The AASG operates as a sub-committee of the UK Anti-Money Laundering Supervisors Forum (AMLSF)—a national forum where professional bodies work together to develop consistent supervisory policies, promote best practice, and receive intelligence from law enforcement and government agencies.
AIA collaborates with law enforcement, regulators, and other professional body supervisors through the Accountancy Sector Intelligence Sharing Expert Group (ISEWG).
This group enables the secure exchange of intelligence to help detect and disrupt money laundering and terrorist financing across the profession.
AIA is a signatory to the Joint Fraud Taskforce Accountancy Charter, a voluntary agreement between law enforcement, professional supervisory bodies, and government. The Charter aims to strengthen collaboration across sectors to better understand and tackle fraud.
One of its long-term goals is to develop a fraud toolkit that provides accountants with practical advice on identifying fraud risks, conducting effective checks, and supporting victims. This initiative helps ensure professionals are equipped to protect clients, uphold public trust, and contribute to a safer financial environment.
