Privileged Circumstances
Privileged Circumstances is the statutory exemption in POCA s.330(6) (and s.342 for tipping off) that relieves a 'professional legal adviser' of the duty to file a SAR where the information came to them in privileged circumstances — broadly, when seeking legal advice or in connection with legal proceedings. The exemption does not apply where the information is communicated with the intention of furthering a criminal purpose (the 'crime/fraud exception').
a solicitor who learns of suspicious activity from a client during privileged advice on a contemplated matter may be exempt from the SAR duty. The solicitor must still consider whether the information falls within the exception — and whether continuing to act exposes the firm to a substantive POCA offence regardless of the reporting carve-out.
Other terms that go with Privileged Circumstances
Legal Professional Privilege is the common-law right of a client to refuse to disclose, or have disclosed, confidential communications with a lawyer made for the purpose of giving or receiving legal advice (advice privilege) or in connection with actual or contemplated litigation (litigation privilege). LPP is not a defence to dishonesty — it is overridden by the 'iniquity exception' where the communication is made to further a crime.
A Suspicious Activity Report is a formal disclosure made to the National Crime Agency (NCA) when a person in a regulated sector knows or suspects that someone is engaged in money laundering or terrorist financing. Filing a SAR provides a defence against money laundering offences. Failure to file when there is grounds to do so is itself a criminal offence.
Tipping off is the criminal offence under POCA s.333A of disclosing — to a client or any other person — that a SAR has been or is being filed, where the disclosure is likely to prejudice an investigation. It also covers disclosing the existence of a money laundering investigation. The offence carries up to 5 years' imprisonment. Limited defences exist, including disclosure within a regulated group, but they are narrow.
Put Privileged Circumstances into practice with Certivus
Knowing the term is the first step. Certivus gives you the workflows — client intake, CDD, EDD, PEP and sanctions screening, audit-ready records — to apply it across every client.
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