More than half of regulated organisations in the UK are unprepared to meet amendments to the government’s money laundering regulations, according to a survey by compliance education business VinciWorks.
The survey found that 57% of firms in the UK’s regulated sectors said they had either not started preparing for the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2026, or were unsure of their current position. Just 4% of respondents said they had new policies that were ready to go ahead of the amendments coming into force, either later this month or in early July.
Despite that lack of preparedness, 77% of respondents were fairly or very confident that their current anti-money laundering (AML) training could quickly adapt to the changes. VinciWorks believes that discrepancy between feeling confident and not being ready could trip organisations up.
Nick Henderson-Mayo, head of compliance at VinciWorks, said: “The confidence figures look reassuring until you set them alongside the readiness data… That gap could be where firms get caught. Regulators do not accept good intentions as a defence. They look for evidence of what was in place, when it was updated and whether staff actually understood it. With these regulations potentially coming into force in the coming weeks, the window to act is short.”
VinciWorks says organisations that fail to update their policies and controls before the new rules come into force risk regulatory scrutiny and enforcement action.
The survey also showed that while 43% of respondents at regulated organisations always treat cryptocurrency transactions as high risk for AML purposes, one in eight respondents have no clear position on crypto risk.
Ruth Mittelmann-Cohen, head of legal compliance at VinciWorks, said: “Crypto is a significant concern even for firms without specific exposure, and the 2026 amendments reflect that. Firms that still have no clear position on how they treat crypto are leaving a visible gap in their risk framework.
“Firms need to be ready to assess crypto risk in source of wealth and funds checks, as well as consider the risk of tax evasion concerns unless the cryptocurrency in question has a proper audit trail behind it.”
The UK government is also planning to instal the Financial Conduct Authority as a single AML supervisor for the entire professional services sector, which would bring more data-led, governance-heavy oversight, VinciWorks says.
Henderson-Mayo added: “Even with a range of minor or technical changes such as these, the risk for firms is having out-of-date policies that could catch them out. If your policies still have euro thresholds after the changes are in force, that shows regulatory things are out of date and could prompt further action.”
The survey was based on responses from 334 compliance professionals across the UK’s regulated sectors.
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