News 16/12/2009 OFT seeks money laundering registration for firms offering credit

Opticians practices which offer credit terms to patients who buy regular supplies of contact lenses are among businesses which do not handle large sums of cash but are being asked by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to register under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.

Quoted in the optical trade magazine Optometry Today, the Association of Optical Practitioners company secretary Steven King said if goods or services are supplied to patients for which they pay after they have received the supply it meant a credit transaction had taken place.

He explained to members, If your patients pay you more than four payments a year for goods or services supplied on credit, often monthly payments in arrears for monthly supplies of contact lenses, then you should have a category A consumer credit licence from the OFT.

Mr King points out it is possible for practitioners to avoid paying the new fee either by not offering credit at all, persuading patients to pay monthly in advance rather than arrears or reducing the number of payments made in a year to four or fewer.

The OFT has been sending out letters requesting a new payment of £115 for registration under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 to be completed before January 31, 2010. It is a separate requirement to holding a category A credit licence.

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