Know your client – Home Office targets professional advisers with tougher organised crime laws

City law firms may face increased red tape when accepting new clients onto their books after the Home Office today (3 June) unveiled plans to bolster legislative powers to imprison solicitors, accountants and others who suspect that their client is linked to organised crime.

A serious crime Bill, expected to be unveiled tomorrow in the Queen’s Speech, will see a new offence of ‘participation in an organised crime group’ to target those who have reason to suspect their client is part of an illegal enterprise and do not act accordingly.

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