The term ‘politically exposed persons’ (PEPs) refers to people who hold high public office. The current Money Laundering Regulations require firms to apply extra measures, called “enhanced due diligence” when dealing with those who are PEPs in a state other than the UK, as well as family members or close associates of those PEPs.
The anti-money laundering regime is being updated by 26 June this year and this will include expanding the definition of a PEP to include those holding a politically exposed position in the UK.
This means that more firms will have PEPs.
We do not intend to repeat the guidance here as the paper is relatively brief and well presented. It provides useful instruction, for example how to differentiate between a higher and lower risk PEP, and who is classified as a family member or a close associate.
It is essential reading though, if only to clarify whether or not your firm has PEPs.
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Publication of Directory Persons data
Michael Senior Compliance 2021, Directory, FCA, Register
Another March reminder! Solo-regulated firms must submit their Directory Persons data via Connect by 31 March 2021. Submissions of 10 persons or more using the multiple upload functionality must be done between 11 January and 18 March to ensure submissions are processed ahead of the deadline. A failure to submit required data in time would be a […]