Tipping Off
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.
once a SAR is being considered or has been submitted, do not tell the client. Do not refer to it in correspondence, hint at it in declining further work, or use coded language with colleagues outside the MLRO chain. Internal escalation should run MLRO → senior partner only, with file notes kept securely.
Other terms that go with Tipping Off
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.
A Money Laundering Reporting Officer is the individual within a regulated business who is responsible for receiving internal suspicious activity reports, deciding whether to submit external SARs to the National Crime Agency, and overseeing the firm's AML compliance programme. Appointing an MLRO is a legal requirement for businesses within the scope of MLR 2017. In SRA-regulated law firms, the MLRO role sits alongside the Money Laundering Compliance Officer (MLCO) — the MLRO owns SAR reporting under POCA; the MLCO owns the firm's overall AML system under MLR 2017.
A Defence Against Money Laundering — often called a 'consent SAR' — is a request to the NCA under POCA s.335 (or s.336 for terrorism) for permission to undertake an act that would otherwise be a principal money laundering offence. Approval is implied if the NCA does not respond within 7 working days (the 'notice period'); a refusal can be extended for a further 31 days (the 'moratorium period').
Put Tipping Off 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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