Financial watchdog puts banks on alert in fight against money laundering via the Post Office

In cooperation with the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), industry and the government, the Financial Commission (FCA) has set out a number of measures for banks to implement in an effort to reduce the risk of money laundering (ML) via the Post Office. The measures apply to all banks facilitating banking services via UK Post Office branches. The measures are manifold and range from moving towards card based-transactions, to additional training of staff to enable it to identify suspicious activities, to improving monitoring capabilities of banks.
Additional measures focus on reducing the cash deposit limits (currently at £20,000 per transaction) and on reducing the time to submit suspicious activity reports. The FCA notes that it expects both banks and Post Office branches to take adequate steps to prevent money laundering, steps that are commensurate with their size and scope of business and their inherent ML risks. To conclude, the FCA states that it will follow up on the issue and review the measures banks have taken to ensure adequate protection from money laundering.
The corresponding press statement announcing the measures may be found here.