Too many firms are not even conducting basic AML checks on high risk clients with wealthy clients and cash-intensive businesses frequently ignored, while decline in face to face meetings is creating issues around verifying client identity.

The latest findings paint a worrying picture after ICAS published a firm-wide money laundering risk assessment thematic review, analysing performance at 10% of smaller firms under its supervisory framework.

The review identified weaknesses in the effectiveness of anti money laundering (AML) procedures in firms ICAS considered to be at the ‘lower end of the risk spectrum’, finding that even basic checks were not being conducted.

‘The results clearly show that the vast majority of the participant firms omitted to identify most of their client risks which is of serious concern,’ the ICAS review stated.