UK Accountants Decry Plan to Shift Anti-Money Laundering Duties

UK accounting bodies are protesting a government plan to remove their responsibilities for overseeing compliance with anti-money laundering regulations, saying it will hurt accountancy firms and increase economic crime.

Centralizing anti-money laundering regulation under markets watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority would mean the loss of sector-specific expertise that would take the new regulator years to develop, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants said in a statement Thursday. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales made similar comments when the government published the plans in October, saying the move would hurt accounting industry growth and cause confusion over regulation. ...