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When the ML rules first came out, a Solicitor (who had taken advice himself) was imprisoned for 6 months and struck off for failing to report a property transaction for a client who, some 2 years later, was convicted of drugs offences. That so put the frighteners on the profession it reported anything and everything; so much so that HMRC could not cope with the number of “small fry” reports. A felllow Solicitor told me he had even considered whether to report an unreceipted cash claim (by a personal injury claimant) for window cleaning. Even then it was obvious the real laundering was going on through substantial London property transactions.

But when I sold a property and bought another wth the proceeds, (£200K) my word what hoops I had to go through to prove the source of funds (and rightly so). And when I transferred the purchase price to my Solicitors, even more hoops from the Building Society. And of course my solicitor built into his hourly rate the huge cost to him of compliance.

So who isn’t reporting?

(Meanwhile HMRC continue to whack ordinary people with massive fines for minor infractions.)