Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government's guidance is to UK-based banks on allowing money transfers to Sudan-based bank accounts.

HM Treasury is responsible for the Money Laundering Regulations, which set out the high-level requirements on regulated firms to combat money laundering and ensure that key professionals verify their customers’ identities.

The Regulations are not prescriptive in setting out how firms should carry out customer due diligence and instead require firms to take a proportionate approach commensurate with their assessment of the risk. Each firm will therefore have their own policies on identification and customer due diligence, including on when additional, more comprehensive checks should be undertaken.

Specific guidance on how banks should conduct customer due diligence is published by the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group. This includes guidance on assessing the money laundering and terrorist financing risk associated with individual countries.