The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) (Threshold Amount) Order 2022 increases from £250 to £1,000 the threshold amount below which banks and certain other bodies can carry out a transaction, in operating an account for a customer, without committing one of the main money laundering offences in sections 327 to 329 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The order comes into effect on 5 January 2023.
The legislative context is explained in the accompanying explanatory memorandum:
“Sections 327 to 329 of POCA are the principal money laundering offences. They prohibit acts committed intentionally by a person in relation to “criminal property”, defined in section 340 of POCA as property which is known or suspected to constitute or represent a benefit from criminal conduct.
The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 amended sections 327 to 329 of POCA and introduced a new section 339A. These provide that certain firms (“deposit- taking bodies”, electronic money institutions and payment institutions: see section 340 for the relevant definitions) do not commit an offence if they do an act in relation to criminal property (other than concealing or disguising) in operating an account maintained with them, if the value of the property is less than the “threshold amount” of £250. The Secretary of State may by order vary that threshold amount.”
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/1355/contents/made
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In Taxpayer Safeguards – Rights and Protections for Individuals, written by the late Robin Williamson and now updated by Keith Gordon, the authors explore the whole spectrum of protections available to individual taxpayers.
