The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has welcomed the guidance published today on the Governmentís Money Laundering Regulations which makes it clear that recruitment agencies going about their normal business will not be caught by these regulations.
This comes after an intensive lobbying campaign led by the REC on behalf of its members and will avoid substantial costs and uncertainty being placed on agencies.
Commenting on this decision Anne Fairweather, the RECís Head of Public Policy, said: ìWe have been making regular representations to the Treasury and HMRC on this issue for a number of years. We have come a long way as at one point, it looked certain that the recruitment of interim managers in particular would be caught by these regulations.
ìThankfully, the Treasury and HMRC have now seen sense and these regulations are correctly targeted on industries which are at risk of money laundering activities. This decision has saved the recruitment industry time and thousands of pounds. If an agency did have to comply with the regulations it would have meant spending time regularly training their workforce and reporting the HMRC. The REC is delighted with this successful lobbying outcome.î
If a recruitment agency did register with HMRC earlier in the year on the basis of the previous draft guidance they should contact HMRC about this to arrange a possible refund.
Guidance on the application on the money laundering regulations can be read at: www.hmrc.gov.uk/mlr
REC wins key lobbying outcome on money laundering regulations
REC has welcomed the guidance published today on the Governmentís Money Laundering Regulations which makes it clear that recruitment agencies going about their normal business will not be caught by these regulations
