ACCA F4 - Corp and Business Law (ENG)

346 22: Fraudulent and criminal behaviour  Part H Governance and ethical issues relating to business

3.1.5 Dissemination of information

This behaviour involves the creation of false or misleading information about supply and demand or

prices and values of investments and then leaking it into the public domain. For example a person who

posts an inaccurate story about a company's future plans on an Internet bulletin board.

Remarks made by the judge when sentencing in R v Bailey 2005 suggested that directors will be held

personally responsible for public announcements in order to ensure the integrity of the market is

preserved and the public protected.

4 Money laundering

4.1 What is money laundering?

Money laundering is the attempt to make money from criminal activity appear legitimate, by disguising

its original source.

Money laundering is the term given to attempts to make the proceeds of crime appear respectable.

It covers any activity by which the apparent source and ownership of money representing the proceeds of

income are changed so that the money appears to have been obtained legitimately.

Money laundering is a crime that is against the interests of the state, and it is associated with drug and

people trafficking in particular, and with organised crime in general.

Money laundering legislation has been influenced on a number of different Acts of Parliament:

 Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986

 Criminal Justice Act 1993

 Terrorism Act 2000

 Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001

 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

 Money Laundering Regulations 2007

4.2 Categories of criminal offence

In the UK, there are various offences relating to money laundering, including tipping off a money

launderer (or suspected money launderer) and failing to report reasonable suspicions.

There are three categories of criminal offences in the Proceeds of Crime Act.

 Laundering: acquisition, possession or use of the proceeds of criminal conduct, or assisting

another to retain the proceeds of criminal conduct and concealing, disguising, converting,

transferring or removing criminal property. This relates to its nature, source, location, disposition,

movement or ownership of the property. Money laundering includes possession of the proceeds of

one's own crime, and facilitating any handling or possession of criminal property, which may take

any form, including in money or money's worth, securities, tangible property and intangible

property. There is no de minimis limit, so an offence may be committed in respect only to £1.

 Failure to report by an individual: failure to disclose knowledge or suspicion of money laundering

(suspicion is more than mere speculation, but falls short of proof or knowledge).

 Tipping off: disclosing information to any person if disclosure may prejudice an investigation into,

drug trafficking, drug money laundering, terrorist related activities, or laundering the proceeds of

criminal conduct.

For the purposes of laundering, 'criminal property' is defined by the CJA as a property which the alleged

offender knows (or suspects) constitutes or represents being related to any criminal conduct.

Key term

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