AMLG1500 | Guidance for all sectors: Registration

5. Registration

You must register with HMRC for anti money laundering supervision if your business falls within any of the business sectors listed in AMLG1100 and is not already supervised for anti money laundering purposes by the FCA, GC or a PBS listed in schedule 1 of the Regulations (or subject to any of the exclusions set out in Regulation 15).

Further guidance on who needs to register for anti money laundering supervision is available here: Who needs to register for money laundering supervision - GOV.UK

You should also read our guidance - Register or update your money laundering supervision with HMRC - GOV.UK. This contains important information regarding the registration process including the following:

What to do before you apply to register

How to apply to register

The annual declaration and payment of fees

Managing your registration account

You must apply to register for anti money laundering supervision via HMRC’s online service, the Government Gateway account, or GOV.UK One Login. The Government Gateway and GOV.UK One Login account allows UK residents and businesses to securely access, and manage their interactions with, various government services, including HMRC. If you are an overseas business carrying out relevant activity in the UK and cannot register through HMRC’s online service please contact [email protected].

Signing into your account

To sign in, you need a Government Gateway user ID or GOV.UK One Login, and password.

You can use your personal Government Gateway user ID or GOV.UK One Login if you’re registering as a sole proprietor.

You should use the business’s Government Gateway user ID or GOV.UK One Login if you’re registering as any other legal entity, such as a:

Partnership

Limited company

Limited liability partnership

If the business does not have a user ID, you can create one when you first register.

After you’ve registered or completed your annual supervision you can sign in to your account to:

Check messages sent to you by HMRC

Update your account

View your records and make changes as required by the Regulations. See questions below for details of which changes you must notify to HMRC.

Further guidance on HMRC online service is available here - HMRC online services: sign in or set up an account: Set up an account for HMRC online services - GOV.UK.

How HMRC will contact you

HMRC will use secure communications (secure comms) to contact you. Secure comms are a method of communications with you during and after registration, alerting you that there is a message to be viewed, or an action to undertake, in a secure way. When a secure comms is generated, an email is sent to the email address provided by you in the initial registration, informing you that there is a message in your Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login account. You must log on to your Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login account to view the message.

Secure comms are generated by HMRC in order to provide businesses with updates: examples can include updates on their registration applications, notifying them when their annual supervision fee is due, and requests for further information or evidence in relation to their application.

Can you carry out your regulated business activity whilst your application for registration is being considered?

This depends on your business sector activity.

MSBs and TCSPs (the fit and proper sectors) cannot carry on regulated business activity until their application is approved.

HVDs, AMPs, EABs, LABs, ASPs, (the approvals sectors) that have applied for registration, which includes the necessary approvals checks on the BOOMs, may carry on regulated business activity whilst their application is being determined.

BPSPs and TDITPSPs that have applied for registration may carry on regulated business activity whilst their application is being determined.

Do you need to notify HMRC of all business sectors in which you intend to carry out regulated activity?

Yes. When you apply for registration, you must inform HMRC of all relevant business sectors in which you intend to carry out regulated activity, and you must be registered for each business sector in which you operate, having appropriate approvals or fit and proper checks positively resolved before trading commences.

Do you need to tell HMRC if there is any change to information you have previously provided?

Yes. You must update HMRC with any material changes to the information in your application within 30 days of the change taking place (14 days for certain changes – see below). If you become aware that any information you previously provided is inaccurate, you must also provide HMRC with a correction of the inaccuracy within 30 days of the discovery of the inaccuracy.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of examples of material changes to information which you must notify to HMRC:

Any change to the business’s beneficial owners, officers and managers (BOOMs).

If you wish to carry out activity in a business sector for which you are not currently registered (please see important note below regarding the addition of a fit and proper sector activity).

The business starts carrying out regulated activity from an additional branch.

Changes to your business operating model.

The business starts operating through an agent network or there are any changes to the agents used by the business.

The business changes its bank account.

Change of registered office or business premises address

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Important note: When a business applies to register with HMRC, it must provide any relevant information requested by HMRC in order to determine its application. If you are registered to carry on activity in an approvals sector and wish to carry on business in a fit & proper sector (i.e. as an MSB or TCSP), your business and it’s BOOMs are required to undergo fit & proper testing and you must not carry on MSB or TCSP activities until HMRC have confirmed that your business and all of its BOOMs have satisfied the fit & proper test. For further information on the fit & proper test, see AMLG1600. MSBs that are required to register with HMRC and carry out money remittance will also need to be registered with, or authorised by, the FCA in accordance with the requirements under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. If the material change is a change of the Nominated Officer or Compliance Officer, this change must be notified to HMRC with 14 days of their appointment.

If you become aware that a business should be registered with HMRC for supervision and is not, you should notify HMRC via the following form https://www.gov.uk/report-tax-fraud. Please note, although this form reference tax fraud, it is the correct form to notify of an unregistered business. You should not enter any business relationship, or conduct an occasional transaction, with another business that should be registered with HMRC that isn’t.

5.1 Registration fees

You must pay fees to HMRC when you register for anti money laundering supervision.

These are:

An application fee (payable once, for initial registration and re-registration if registration is cancelled).

A registration fee for each premises out of which your business carries out regulated activity (including agents’ premises and branches),

A fit and proper test fee (for MSBs and TCSPs) for each person tested (see AMLG1600 section 6.1 for information on the fit and proper test).

An approval process fee (for ASPs, AMPs, EABs, HVDs, LABs) for each person tested (see AMLG1600 section 6.2 for information on the approvals test).

Further information on registration fees including how to pay your fees can be found here - Fees you’ll pay for money laundering supervision - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

5.2 Annual declaration and supervision fee

Once your business is included on the register, you must pay an annual fee for anti money laundering supervision. This annual fee is payable for each premises.

If you fail to pay your annual supervision fee, your registration may be automatically cancelled. If you then wish to apply to re-register, you will have to pay the application fee as well as the annual registration fee payable for each premises.

Each year, you also need to submit your annual declaration confirming that the details and information held by HMRC in respect of your business remain correct and up to date or update your details and information if there have been any changes. As set out in section 5 above, however, if there have been any material changes to the information in your application, you must notify HMRC of these changes within 14 or 30 days of the change taking place. You should do this by logging onto your Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login account and updating and submitting your annual declaration form to reflect the changes.

Further information on updating your registration can be found here - Register or update your money laundering supervision with HMRC - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).