This House of Lords Library briefing outlines the current anti-money regulations in regards to Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), and proposed reforms.
Politically Exposed Persons: Current Regime and Reforms (102KB PDF)
Banks and other financial institutions are required to conduct enhanced customer due diligence when dealing with people identified as PEPs. This is intended to help trace and put a stop to the financing of terrorism. It has been argued that, in some cases, financial institutions have declined to handle accounts of UK PEPs as a result. This process of withdrawing financial services for PEP’s has been described as ‘de-risking’.
The current anti-money laundering rules are set out in Money Laundering Regulations 2007, which implement the EU’s Third Money Laundering Directive in the UK. The Fourth Money Laundering Directive states that the enhanced due diligence measures, current required for foreign PEPs, should be extended to domestic PEPs. This directive has yet to be agreed in the European Parliament. The UK Government has stated its intention to implement new money-laundering regulations by June 2017.
Politically Exposed Persons: Current Regime and Reforms (102KB PDF)
The House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber Bill) [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru). It would require the secretary of state to carry out a consultation regarding proposals for replacing the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber. The bill specifies whom the secretary of state would be required to consult with and the timeframe of that consultation.
![House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 11 of 2026–27](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/House-of-Lords-568x426.png)
The Sovereign Grant Bill is a government bill which would amend how the sovereign grant is set. This is a grant paid to the King to support the work of the sovereign. The bill would enable the size of the sovereign grant to be reduced following the completion of a 10-year works project on Buckingham Palace. The bill received cross-party support and was not amended in the House of Commons.
The bill is a government bill that would make a range of changes to the legal framework concerning elections, including extending the franchise for UK parliamentary elections and other reserved elections to 16- and 17-year-olds. The bill was amended during both its committee and report stages in the House of Commons, with many of the government’s later amendments implementing recommendations from the Rycroft review on countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics.
