How suspicions of money laundering must be reported under POCA 2002, and how the consent regime governs whether a transaction can lawfully proceed.
A solicitor who handles a suspect transaction without making the right disclosure at the right time risks committing a serious offence. This chapter starts with the mechanics of the disclosure regime — suspicious activity reports, the role of the nominated officer, and where a report must go when there is none — before examining the threshold of suspicion that triggers the duty to disclose, including the objective test where a reasonable person would have suspected. It then works through the DAML consent process, with its notice and moratorium periods and the consequences of proceeding too early, and the three points in time at which a disclosure can found a defence. Finally, it covers the tipping off offence and what can safely be said to an impatient client, and how legal professional privilege interacts with the duty to disclose, including the crime/fraud exception.
