I have been training in AML for 13 years. I love it, I love spreading the word, helping staff in law firms understand the risks they face, and what to look out for to try and identify someone trying to use them to launder money.
Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad and McMafia have all played a part in raising the awareness of how the baddies launder money, but we need to make sure that the training is relevant to lawyers, and their staff.
I’ve trained countless numbers of MLROs in those 13 years. I’ve never met any who did not accept and appreciate the need to have their firm understand the anti money laundering legislation and how to apply it in their firm.
That said, I have been talking about the same methods in which the money launderers operate for most of those years, car washes, take-aways, and memorably (if you’ve been on the course you’ll remember) nail bars. All of those are still relevant, but there are new ways in which the criminals are operating and it is critical that we gain an understanding of those in order to protect our firms, the people who work for us and the wider society who are damaged by money laundering and the activities of serious and organised crime.
What about your construction clients who are using sub-contracted labour, who are in turn victims of human trafficking, what about the person who is lucky on fixed odds betting machines, who has really been pumping the machine with the proceeds of selling drugs on bicycles on street corners in your town. It’s on your doorstep, I just want to help you see it.
For that reason, I am delighted to have Mark Heffer join us at Teal Compliance. Mark is a Financial Crime Consultant, Accredited Financial Investigator and former Detective Constable. He served for over 25 years with the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary with the Serious and Organised Crime Branch and specialised in crime such as money laundering, complex fraud, human trafficking, drug trafficking, bribery and corruption. He is an expert in all aspects of POCA, money laundering, confiscation, restraint, and SARs and has a reputation for bringing a very real world, hands on approach to his consulting work.
He supports law firms with a range of services including:
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Expert training and investigation in all aspects of Financial Crime, Anti Money Laundering, Compliance and Fraud.
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Bespoke investigations for Business and Private Clients – managing reputational risk
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Assisting firms with the perils of Restraint/Production Orders
Together, we have written new AML courses, which focus on these new tactics being deployed by the baddies, and how they target not just you, but manipulate the banks, accountants and estate agents, before they get to you, the lawyers, adding layers of legitimacy which can be difficult to unravel. We’re running a webinar for MLROs on the 8th March which will focus on these tactics, and how to spot and avoid them. Visit our events page for more details.
Mark and I are also taking bookings for our brand new in house course. It is a 90 minute course, fully incorporating the 2017 regulations and full of relevant examples of how firms are targeted. In house training can be incredibly cost effective, with up to 100 people trained a day for £1250 plus VAT (and travel expenses)
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If you need help with AML compliance or need compliance training, simply get in touch with one of our experts today.
