The government’s 2025 National Risk Assessment shows that accountants remain a main target for criminals wanting to launder money, with new digital threats making the situation more complex.
Same risk, new problems
Accountancy services keep their high-risk status for money laundering – the same as in 2020 – whilst terrorist financing risks remain low. What’s different now is how criminals operate.
The assessment found that criminals target specific accounting services: setting up and closing companies, bookkeeping, payroll, tax advice and trust services. These services make it easy to hide who really owns money and assets.
Crime is going digital
Fintech firms have jumped from medium to high risk. These include companies that handle digital payments and e-money. They’ve grown fast, but many don’t have strong enough checks on money laundering – or they pay other companies to do it for them.
Cryptocurrency businesses have also moved to high risk as criminals widely use digital currencies due to the difficultly that comes with tracing them. Even online gambling has become riskier. Casinos that operate online are now medium risk, which matters if your clients work in the gambling industry.
Country risk lists keep changing
The list of dangerous countries changes regularly. This summer, Bolivia and the UK Virgin Islands joined the watchlist whilst Croatia, Mali and Tanzania came off it.
The EU made bigger changes, adding ten countries including Algeria, Kenya, Lebanon and Venezuela. Countries like Barbados and the UAE were removed.
This matters because if your clients have links to these places, you need to do extra checks. Miss an update and you could be in trouble.
What this means for firms
ICAEW’s Mike Miller says firms must use the assessment to shape their controls. Check your systems work with today’s threats, and train your staff to spot the new warning signs, especially around crypto and online gambling.
