HMRC and money laundering – now it’s getting serious

HMRC imposing a £23.8m fine in January on a UK payments business for breaching anti-money laundering rules was certainly newsworthy. Yet there may still be significance to it that goes beyond the initial headlines.

There is little doubt that the size of the fine makes it notable especially when it is considered that this is the largest such penalty that HMRC has imposed. MT Global the Luton-based money transfer company that has been ordered to pay it must now be regretting what HMRC called the ‘significant breaches of money laundering regulations’ between July 2017 and December 2019 that prompted the fine.

Setting an example?

This is arguably a case that is about more than one company and one very large financial penalty. The MT Global fine dwarfs the total value of all fines issued by HMRC in the previous financial year. In 2019-20 HMRC issued...