These new regulations are almost certainly an EU initiative but we cannot get confirmation at the moment - anyone know.

A suspected possible reason see ref2006-88

http://www.thelawye r.com/cgi- bin/item. cgi?id=124281& d=122&h=24& f=46
The Lawyer
15 February 2007
Law Soc blasts Money Laundering Directive

Law Society president Fiona Woolf has said slammed the draft regulations on the
Third Money Laundering Directive as unworkable.

Woolf has written to Ed Balls, the lead minister for financial crime, to request
an urgent meeting.

In a statement, Woolf said: "The Law Society will continue to press government
to look again at these regulations. As currently drafted they will heap
unnecessary regulatory burdens on solicitors and their corporate clients,
significantly damaging competitiveness, particularly for city firms.

“In the interests of clarity, workability and the competitiveness of UK PLC, the
City of London and the legal profession the Government must listen to
practitioners and rewrite these regulations. "

The Third European Money Laundering Directive was adopted by the European
Commission late last year, and must be implemented into UK law by December 2007.
It puts more onus on professionals such as lawyers to report suspected money
laundering.