ANTI-MONEY laundering rules for customers opening new accounts are to be relaxed as the Government prepares to pressurise banks to open more accounts for the poor.

Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, is expected to lay out specific sales targets for Britain’s banks before the end of the year, as part of a drive to reduce the number of people in the UK who do not have a bank account.

The government initiative — started five years ago — has led to the opening of more than 800,000 so-called “basic accounts”, which offer rudimentary banking services to people on benefits or low incomes. Many accounts have been opened through a joint initiative with the Post Office, originally called the Universal Bank.

Although bank trade organisations have claimed the initiative has been a success, the number of new accounts falls short of the Government’s three million taget. The Treasury yesterday refused to give an indication of the new sales targets. “The targets will include some sort of proportionality for the banks,” a spokesman said. He added that it was logical for the Government to assess the success of policy five years after its introduction.

Privately, banks have complained that anti-money laundering rules have hindered the opening of basic bank accounts, as potential customers have struggled to find sufficient proof of identity. The problem is thought to have become worse as banks have boosted anti-terrorist security checks.

However, the banks appear to have won some concessions over anti-money laundering checks through negotiations with the Financial Services Authority and the anti-money laundering steering group. Under new rules, expected to come in to force next year, potential customers will only have to provide one form of identification. Banks will be able to accept foreign passports as proof of identity.

The rules will also scrap the requirement of a utility bill as proof of address. A spokesman for the FSA said the requirement had proved too difficult for some people, adding that such bills were easy to fake.

Ian Mullen, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) chief executive, said the changes will not lead to an increase in money laundering. “The industry needs to be careful to assure the UK public that the UK is not going soft on money laundering, nor are firms seeking to cut their costs,” he said. “Rather we are all engaged in better targeting of the resources that we deploy.”

Attacking money laundering has been one of the biggest tasks faced by the FSA. Many UK banks have been fined because of poor implementation of anti-money laundering rules. The BBA said the changes would prevent over-zealous implementation of ID checks.

“The fear factor arising from the FSA’s supervisory approach has caused firms to take a more rigid approach towards ID than the guidance notes would permit,” it said.

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