legislation

The "money laundering" legislation in the United Kingdom, under Sections 327 to 340 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (PoCA), and all of the Money Laundering Regulations 2003 and 2007, is wide-ranging and encompasses mere possession of criminal or terrorist property as well as its acquisition, transfer, removal, use, conversion, concealment, or disguise. In the UK "money laundering" need not involve money (it relates to assets of any kind, both tangible and intangible, and to the avoidance of a liability) and need not involve laundering either a thief's possession of the assets he himself stole is included. There is no lower limit to what has to be reported - a suspicious transaction involving a single £5 note may be required to be reported. All persons not just financial services employees and firms are technically required to report, and obtain consent for, their own involvement in crime or suspicious activities involving money or assets of any kind. So in the UK a thief who steals a vest from a clothes store commits a "money laundering" offence because he has possession of an asset derived from crime. He is technically required to seek consent from law enforcement for his continued possession of the vest if he is to avoid risk of prosecution for "money laundering."

The UK legislation also creates a money laundering offence where a person enters into, or becomes concerned in, an arrangement which facilitates by whatever mean the acquisition, retention, use, or control of criminal property by another person. This has impacted upon lawyers and other professional advisers in the UK who act for a client whom they suspect may possess criminal property of any kind.