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Before the transaction takes place 
Alternatively, they may have a defence if they can show there was a 
reasonable excuse 
for not making a 
disclosure. 
In relation to 
failure to report
, the person who suspects money laundering must disclose this to a 
nominated officer within their organisation if it has one, or directly to the National Crime Agency (NCA) 
in the form of a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). NCA has responsibility in the UK for collecting and 
disseminating information related to all forms of serious organised crime, including money laundering 
and related activities. The nominated officer in an organisation acts as a filter and notifies NCA too. 
In relation to 
tipping off
, this covers the situation when a person making a disclosure to the nominated 
officer or NCA also tells the person at the centre of their suspicions about the disclosure. There is a 
defence 
to the effect that the person did not know that tipping off would prejudice an investigation.
6.4 Penalties 
The law sets out 
the following penalties in relation to money laundering. 
(a) 
14 years' imprisonment and/or a fine for knowingly assisting in the 
laundering 
of criminal funds 
(b) 
5 years' imprisonment and/or a fine for failure to report knowledge or the suspicion of money 
laundering and 2 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine for 'tipping off' a suspected launderer; the 
suspected launderer must not be alerted 
QUESTION 
Money laundering
 
Why should a professional adviser not give a warning to a client whom they suspect of money laundering? 
ANSWER 
Tipping off a suspected money launderer is an offence. Alerting the suspect would be likely to hamper 
any subsequent investigation by the authorities.