What is OPBAS?

OPBAS stands for the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision. Established by the UK government in 2018, OPBAS was created to strengthen anti-money laundering (AML) supervision within the legal and accountancy sectors.

Operating under the umbrella of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), OPBAS was introduced in response to growing concerns that existing professional bodies were not enforcing AML standards effectively. Its core mission is to ensure consistent, high-quality AML oversight across these professions by supervising the supervisors themselves.

What Does OPBAS Do?

Unlike the FCA, OPBAS does not directly supervise law or accountancy firms. Instead, it monitors the 22 professional bodies that oversee these sectors to ensure their AML regulations are properly enforced and sufficiently robust.

Some of the key bodies supervised by OPBAS include:

• The Law Society
• Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT)
• Association of International Accountants (AIA)
• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
• Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, among others.

A complete list of supervised bodies is available on the FCA website.

Why Was OPBAS Created?

The creation of OPBAS was driven by concerns over inconsistent AML supervision across different professional bodies. Prior to its formation, many accountancy and legal firms were found to have inadequate AML procedures, and their supervising bodies were often failing to take corrective action or impose penalties.

OPBAS was established to fill this enforcement gap, acting as a regulator of regulators. Its role is to ensure that all supervisory bodies:

• Maintain risk-based AML strategies
• Enforce compliance through penalties where necessary
• Allocate adequate resources to supervision
• Share intelligence on financial crime risks

OPBAS: First-Year Findings and Future Direction

In its early stages, OPBAS issued just one public report. During a 2019 speech at the Royal United Services Institute, Alison Barker (Director of Specialist Supervision at the FCA) outlined OPBAS’s forward-looking objectives:

• Focus on Risk: Supervision must be targeted at firms most vulnerable to money laundering.
• Enforce Compliance: Strong enforcement—including fines and restrictions—is necessary when AML obligations are ignored.
• Resourcing: Supervisory bodies must be adequately staffed and funded.
• Intelligence Sharing: Greater collaboration and sharing of risk data is essential to combat evolving threats.

The message was clear: AML supervision must improve in quality, consistency, and coordination.

Why Should Law and Accountancy Firms Pay Attention?

Even though your firm is not directly regulated by OPBAS, the professional body that supervises you is. This means that AML requirements are likely to become stricter, as these bodies face increasing pressure to raise their compliance standards under OPBAS oversight.

In practice, this may result in:

• More frequent AML audits
• Stronger documentation and due diligence requirements
• Increased expectations around training and reporting

Preparing in advance is critical to avoid penalties and reputational damage.

Stay Ahead with AML Buddy

Meeting the growing demands of AML compliance can be overwhelming—especially when done manually. AML Buddy provides a centralized, automated compliance platform that helps legal and accountancy firms meet their regulatory obligations efficiently and accurately.

With AML Buddy, you can:

• Conduct Customer Due Diligence (CDD)
• Perform adverse media and sanctions screenings
• Get instant alerts from global sources like the Dow Jones WatchList
• Automate ongoing monitoring for high-risk clients
• Maintain a full audit trail for regulatory inspections

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