AML & KYC for Law Firms in Ghana: Act 1044 Guide

Do anti-money laundering rules apply to law firms in Ghana?

Yes, when lawyers carry out the transactions listed for legal practitioners in the First Schedule to the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044), such as real estate deals or managing client money. The firm is then an accountable institution that must do customer due diligence, keep records and report suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Centre.

What does the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 require?

The Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044) consolidates Ghana’s anti-money laundering law and continues the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC). It defines the money-laundering offence broadly: a person commits it if they know or ought to have known that property is, or forms part of, the proceeds of unlawful activity.

Its duties fall on accountable institutions, listed in the First Schedule to the Act (section 28). Alongside banks and other financial institutions, the schedule covers designated non-financial businesses and professions, which is how legal practitioners come within the Act when they carry out the specified kinds of transactions for clients, such as dealing in real estate, managing client money or assets, and creating or managing companies.

What are a law firm’s core AML duties?

Duty	Where in Act 1044	What it means in practice
Customer due diligence	s.30	Identify and verify the client (and, for companies, who owns and controls them) before or during the establishment of the relationship, and understand the purpose of the work.
Record-keeping	s.32	Keep identification and transaction records for the period the Act prescribes, in a form you can produce to the FIC or a supervisor.
Suspicious transaction reporting	s.38	Report to the FIC when you know or suspect that a transaction involves the proceeds of unlawful activity, and don’t alert the client.
Protection for good-faith reports	s.44	Reports made in good faith are protected against civil and criminal liability.

Higher-risk clients, such as politically exposed persons, complex ownership structures or unusual transactions, call for enhanced due diligence: more evidence (for example proof of address and source of funds), senior approval, and closer ongoing monitoring.

Legal professional privilege and reporting

Privilege and AML duties interact in sensitive ways, and reporting decisions should be made by a designated senior person, not left to the lawyer on the file. Record the reasoning for every decision to report (or not to report) and take advice on the boundary between privileged communications and reportable knowledge.

How should a law firm run KYC?

Screen for conflicts first. Before collecting due diligence, confirm the firm can act at all.
Verify identity remotely. Ask individuals for a government ID (such as the Ghana Card or a passport), a liveness check and a face match. For companies, check the registry and identify directors and beneficial owners, each of whom verifies individually.
Screen for risk. Check sanctions lists, politically exposed persons and adverse media, and keep screening while the relationship lasts.
Decide, with a human in the loop. Possible matches go to a senior person. Record the decision and the reason; escalate to enhanced due diligence when the risk calls for it.
Gate client money on approval. Don’t let client funds move until due diligence is approved: the moment money moves is the moment risk crystallises.
Keep the record. Store the evidence, the screening results and the decision with the client file so you can produce it on request.

Asem Legal runs this workflow end to end (see client intake & KYC), and client-money movements stay locked until due diligence is approved.

Why does AML compliance matter for Ghanaian firms now?

In June 2021 the Financial Action Task Force announced that Ghana had completed its action plan and was no longer subject to increased monitoring (the “grey list”), after reforms that included Act 1044. Keeping that standing depends on effective supervision of every sector the FATF standards cover, including legal professionals. Firms that can show a consistent, documented KYC process are better placed for supervisory scrutiny, bank onboarding and international clients.

Frequently asked questions

Do AML rules apply to lawyers in Ghana?

Yes, when they carry out the kinds of transactions listed for legal practitioners in the First Schedule to the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044), for example dealing in real estate or managing client money for clients. In those cases the firm is an accountable institution with due-diligence, record-keeping and reporting duties.

What is customer due diligence?

Identifying and verifying a client (and, for organisations, the people who own or control it), understanding the purpose of the work, and monitoring the relationship. Section 30 of Act 1044 sets out the duty.

Where are suspicious transactions reported in Ghana?

To the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), under section 38 of Act 1044. The client must not be tipped off.

Can KYC be done without the client visiting the office?

Yes. Remote verification with an ID document, liveness check and face match is widely used, with enhanced checks for higher-risk clients.

Sources

This guide is general information for law firms, not legal advice. Laws and regulator guidance change: check the current text of each instrument and the regulator's latest notices before relying on it.

Keep reading

Client intake & KYC in Asem: ID, liveness, AML screening and KYB.
Client trust accounts in Ghana: Controls for clients’ money.

AML and KYC for law firms in Ghana: a practical guide to Act 1044