It has now been three months since the money laundering regulations came into force and since then there have been a number of solicitors arrested in connection with them.

It is little wonder there has been plenty of chaos when there has been little reliable guidance from the Law Society, the National Criminal Intelligence Service or anyone else for that matter.



A recent case (P v P [2003] EWHC Fam 2260) tried to give some guidance but has still left many questions unanswered.



A lawyer was recently prosecuted for acting on advice he was given, only to find that it was wrong; he could not use the fact that he had sought advice as a reason for not making a report.


The profession is in support of the aims of the regulations (stamping out terrorism and criminal activity and so on), but at present it is finding it hard to embrace them because they are so vague and open to different interpretation. Even upon seeking advice from the different sources available different answers are forthcoming depending on who is spoken to and how hard they are pushed.


Lawyers have been told that they must not report cases with a view to 'protecting their backs' - but what else can they do when there is no advice to rely on and the penalties for getting it wrong are so high? It is about time that the authorities involved in this complex area give us all consistent advice that could be relied on as a defence for acting in one way or another.



Brian Rogers, Rowe Cohen, Manchester



See Good Practice