AN East Lancashire local authority has updated its Anti Money Laundering Policy and Strategy to ensure it is not used by criminal gangs and terrorists to make their ill-gotten gains look legitimate.

Blackburn with Darwen Council's new blueprint revises existing controls introduced in 2014.

It includes the appointment of a special Money Laundering Reporting Officer and outlines the checks town hall officials must make to ensure firms it does business with are not 'fronts' for organised crime.

A report to colleagues by Blackburn with Darwen Council's finance boss Cllr Vicky McGurk says: "The purpose of the Anti-Money Laundering Policy and associated Strategy is to clearly demonstrate that the council embraces the underlying principles of money laundering legislation and is taking reasonable steps to minimise the likelihood of such activities occurring.

"The updated policy and strategy set out the framework by which the council will manage the risks of exposure to money laundering.

"This includes both the risk of the council systems being used to facilitate money laundering and to protect council officers from the risk of being engaged in criminal activity.

"Money laundering is a key enabler of serious and organised crime.

"In 2019 the National Crime Agency estimated that money laundering costs the UK more than £100 billion every year.

"It is used by criminals and terrorists to move funds and pay for assets.

"Money laundering offences are defined as: ‘The process by which the proceeds of crime are converted into assets which appear to have a legitimate origin, so that they can be retained permanently or recycled into further criminal enterprises’.

"This is not limited to money or cash.

"A robust anti-money laundering policy should ensure that the council consistently applies a strong control framework to prevent attempts to engage the council or officers in the laundering of criminal or terrorist funds.

"The council’s existing policy and strategy is due for review as it was last updated in 2014.

"There are two main types of offences which may be committed: money laundering offences and failure to report money laundering offences.

"The law requires those organisations to appoint a Money Laundering Reporting Officer to receive disclosures from employees of money laundering activity; and implement policies and procedures relating to customer due diligence, reporting, record keeping and risk management.

"Relevant persons must check beneficial ownership registers of legal entities before establishing a business relationship.

"The policy does not introduce any significant changes to existing controls but seeks to clarify and embed how these support a robust control framework."