Insider dealing and money laundering etc. Application of money laundering regulations to overseas trustees
A trust is a way of managing assets that involves a trustee holding the assets placed in the trust for the benefit of a specified person, or class of persons, known as the beneficiary or beneficiaries.
	Since 2017, overseas trustees that pay tax in the UK in relation to the assets or the income of an express trust have been required to register with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Changes to the registration of trusts made by the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/991) will mean that in future HMRC will also need to register certain overseas express trusts that acquire land or enter into a business relationship in the UK. Future money laundering regulations will need to be able to apply to overseas trusts in those sorts of cases.
	The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA) creates the framework for implementing post-Brexit sanctions and anti-money laundering policy. SAMLA will replace the European Communities Act 1972 (ECA) as the statutory power the Government uses to impose and make changes to requirements in the UK’s money laundering regulations, currently the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/692).
	The Act introduces amendments to SAMLA to ensure HMRC will still be able to access information on who owns and benefits from UK-linked overseas trusts. It ensures that the extra-territorial application permitted by SAMLA is fully effective in relation to overseas trustees with links to the UK.