The Bank of England has issued a warning for Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) and product providers to be alert against the movement of terrorist funds in the wake of the London bombings. It has asked the Personal Finance Society to alert members to financial sanctions against terrorist groups such as Al-Qa’ida and regimes including Zimbabwe and Sudan.
Legislation bans firms from making available funds or resources to any individual listed by the United Nations, European Union or the UK as a target for financial sanctions and requires that any funds held for, or on their behalf be frozen. Advisers that knowingly deal with a listed person are liable to criminal prosecution.
Our view
This warning is completely unnecessary. We, like every other IFA in the UK, are well aware of problems and 'at risk' areas of advice and are well aware of our duties with Money Laundering monitoring and reporting.