What the law makes them do
Three duties: client research before the relationship — identity verified, UBOs traced, the purpose of the engagement understood; risk-based depth — simple cases checked simply, complex charts and higher-risk profiles (foreign structures, politically exposed persons, unusual flows) checked deeper; and ongoing monitoring with a duty to report genuinely unusual transactions to the national reporting office. The professional’s licence rides on doing this well — which is why serious advisers are thorough and why thoroughness is the quality signal.
What you will be asked
The recurring set: identification per director and UBO, the ownership chart, the activity story, and — scaled to amounts — the source questions: the UBO file and the answers that land. Gatekeepers also consult the registers and must flag discrepancies: that mechanism. Everything requested has a legal reason; requests beyond the framework may simply be asked about.
The prepared client’s experience
One binder, handed proactively, answers ninety percent before it is asked — onboarding at the notary (the digital route), the bank (the routes) and the adviser then runs in days. Our own intake follows exactly this framework, written-only and structured: the practical hub.