A reminder that since 1 July 2018 all lawyers have been required to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.

The purpose of this legislation is to prevent money laundering and the financing of any terrorism. By asking for more information from you we have more knowledge about the transaction we are to undertake on your behalf and we can ensure that we will not be breaching our requirements under the Act. If we have any uncertainties about the transaction we must to report this to the authorities. This means we are now asking for more information from you. In most situations, we must have the information from you before we can carry out any work.

Information required: We now need proof of your identity and date of birth, such as a passport, firearms licence, driver's licence or birth certificate. We also need proof of your address – such as a recent utilities account or a bank statement.

If the transaction involves an entity such as a trust or a company, we will need further information from you. This includes details of people who are directors, shareholders, trustees and beneficiaries. We may also be required to ask questions for confirmation of the source of the money and the reason for the proposed transaction (what you are asking us to do). We will endeavour to make this information-gathering as easy as possible.