LEGAL firms in Jersey could find themselves on the wrong side of the law if they fail to act in accordance with new anti-money-laundering requirements.

The Proceeds of Crime (Supervisory Bodies) Law is expected to come into force later this month. It will affect not only lawyers, but also estate agents, accountants, charitable organisations, jewellers and any business likely to be dealing with large amounts of cash.

The Jersey Financial Services Commission, which is currently responsible only for some areas of the financial services sector, will for the first time be required to oversee these non-finance businesses. The commission has set up a number of briefings this month to introduce the new requirements, but at the end of last week relatively few legal firms had signed up for the presentations organised specifically for them.

The commission’s deputy director-general, Helen Hatton (pictured), said: ‘The International Monetary Fund visit is nearly upon us and they will look at the the degree of compliance achieved and the level of participation shown by the various sectors required to have defences against money laundering and terrorist financing.’