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Compliance by Country

United Kingdom: onboarding obligations and AML controls

Align onboarding, sanctions screening, and case operations in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. AutoKYC unifies multi-provider KYC, KYB, and AML tooling with privacy-by-design audit trails and managed analyst services.

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Core regulatory expectations

Customer due diligence
The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 require firms to apply risk-based customer due diligence, verify beneficial ownership via Companies House or equivalent data, and document policies aligned with FCA and HM Treasury guidance.
Politically exposed persons
Regulation 35 aligns with FATF definitions, covering UK and non-UK PEPs, family members, and known associates. The FCA expects proportionate treatment for domestic PEPs while still applying enhanced ongoing monitoring.
Record retention
Regulation 40 requires keeping CDD records for five years from the end of the business relationship, after which personal data must be deleted unless other UK legal obligations require retention.

Sanctions and watchlist coverage

AutoKYC’s sanctions engine can orchestrate risk-based screening across primary authorities required in United Kingdom.

How AutoKYC operationalises these controls

KYC Orchestration Platform

Design multi-provider identity journeys with regulator-approved remote identification, tiered fallbacks, and privacy-safe audit trails tailored to United Kingdom.

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Sanctions & AML Monitoring

Screen against EU, UN, and domestic sanctions authorities with rules-based escalation, risk scoring, and immutable audit logs for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

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Managed Onboarding & Case Ops

Delegate onboarding, periodic reviews, ODD/EDD, and escalation workflows to AutoKYC specialists operating from ISO 27001 certified facilities.

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Regulatory references

Maintain documented evidence for auditors and regulators. Link your policies to primary sources listed below.

Frequently asked questions

Use these answers to align product, compliance, and operations teams on local obligations.

How can firms verify UK beneficial ownership? #1
Firms should reconcile customer declarations with the Companies House register and apply enhanced checks when discrepancies or trust structures are present.
What triggers enhanced due diligence in the UK? #2
Triggers include high-risk countries, complex ownership structures, PEP involvement, and unusual transaction behaviour, as outlined in Regulation 33.
How are suspicious activity reports submitted? #3
SARs are filed through the UKFIU online reporting system, including supporting documents and clear suspicion narratives.