Firms should check whether they need to register as doing tax advice work
The Law Society has reminded firms, including those practising family law, that they should have checked whether they need to register as doing tax advice work to fulfil their obligations under the money laundering regulations.
Law firms had until 10 January 2021 to check whether any tax advice work they carry out falls under a new and wider definition for anti-money laundering purposes. The Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive brought in amended regulations, with the definition of tax adviser widened to include more activities than before.
Any firm that finds it is now in the scope of the regulations should have applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or another AML supervisor, such HM Revenue and Customs, to be supervised for money laundering before 10 January. If your firm has not done so, you can still apply now.
14 January 2021
The Dáil recently passed a Bill which will provide some certainty and relief for both pension scheme members and pension providers if it is enacted in its current form. The Bill contains provisions which ensure that Irish individuals will not find that their personal information has been placed on a State maintained central register simply by virtue of the fact that they are a member of a pension scheme. As the Bill excludes pension schemes from registering on the central register and providing beneficial owner information, trustees will not be obliged to create and maintain their own internal registers.
Self-Hosted Bitcoin Wallets Become Front Line in Fight Over Crypto Regulations
Dec 18, 2020Regulations
The Takeaway:
Blockchain analytics companies tend to flag funds moving to and from private crypto wallets, with self-custody said to be the next fault line for crypto regulations.
One such firm, CipherTrace, has examined privacy coins such as zcash, as well as non-custodial and peer-to-peer exchanges like ShapeShift, LocalBitcoins and Paxful.
CipherTrace acknowledges compliance standards are evolving over time, having recently upgraded scores for ShapeShift and Paxful.
Still, looming regulatory action in the U.S. could soon require due-diligence on self-hosted wallets.
This is the second part of a two-part series. Read the first part here.