Anti-Money Laundering (AML)

Welcome to the Law Society AML online hub.

Anti-Money Laundering - wooden carving of lady justice

From here, you will find a wide range of guidance and support tools to assist solicitors and non-solicitors working in legal firms with navigating their AML-compliance obligations. 

At a glance


  1. Are you using the Law Society’s key AML materials? [hyperlink to relevant section below once content has been imported] 
  2. Have you completed the core free AML training on LegalEdTalks? [hyperlink to relevant section below once content has been imported] 
  3. Are you familiar with the money laundering risks to the legal sector? 
  4. Have you evaluated your firm’s vulnerability to being used to launder money? 
  5. Have you put risk-appropriate AML policies, controls and procedures in place? 
  6. Are you documenting your customer / matter risk assessments?  
  7. Do you risk assess for money laundering BEFORE agreeing to act and gathering CDD? 
  8. Do you engage with the due diligence as it comes in? 
  9. Are you up-to-date with the latest developments? 
  10. Have you adopted the traffic lighting red flags approach? 

  1. Computerise your accounts if you are relying on manual accounts 
  2. Review your dormant balances at least every six months 
  3. Review your balancing statements every three months 
  4. Make sure your section 150 precedents are up to date and that all bills are compliant with the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 
  5. Ensure that client account payment can only be authorised by a partner or principal 
  6. Confirm that your AML procedures are up-to-date and properly recorded: 
    • Policies Controls Procedures need to be documented 
    • Business Risk Assessment need to be documented 
    • Evidence of Training of Staff need to be documented 
    • Client Risk Assessment needs to be documented on each file 
    Guidance materials on all of the above are available on the Law Society website
  7. Make sure your accounts (and your files) are backed up off-site 
  8. Maintain a register of undertakings (Regulation 38) 
  9. Get a case management system 
  10. Contact the Law Society if you are having difficulty 

(This list is non-exhaustive and does not represent a complete summary of AML legislation and the Solicitors Accounts Regulations. For further guidance, please see below and the Society’s page on the Solicitors Accounts Regulations [bring user to new SAR content, once live]) 


If further assistance is required, please contact the Law Society’s AML helpline, email: aml@lawsociety.ie. 

The AML helpline assists solicitors with best practice guidance. The legislation requires solicitors to make subjective decisions about, for example, the adequacy of CDD material in specific scenarios, whether a ML/TF risk arises on a case-by-case basis, or whether the reporting obligation arises in specific circumstances. Accordingly, the helpline cannot confirm the adequacy of AML documentation / approach to be taken in specific circumstances. The helpline cannot provide legal advice.