The Joint Committee of European Supervisory Authorities on Wednesday launched public consultations on two anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) guidelines.
The guidelines promote a common understanding of the risk-based approach to AML/CFT and set out how it should be applied by credit and financial institutions and competent authorities across the EU, the Joint Committee, which includes the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA, and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), says in a statement.
On consultation paper on the Risk-Based Supervision Guidelines specifies the characteristics of a risk-based approach to AML/CFT supervision and sets out what regulators should do to ensure that their allocation of supervisory resources is appropriate to the level of money laundering and terrorist financing risk.
A second consultation paper on the Risk-Factors Guidelines provides guidance on the factors that financial firms should consider when assessing the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing associated with individual business relationships, and on how they should adjust their customer due diligence measures as a result of that risk assessment.
The aim of these guidelines is to provide financial institutions, “with the tools they need to make informed, risk-based and proportionate decisions on the effective management of individual business relationships and occasional transactions,” the Joint Committee says in a statement. They also aim to help regulators assess whether firms’ risk assessment and management systems and controls are adequate.
The consultations close on Jan. 22, 2016. The regulators will also be holding a public hearing on the draft guidelines in London on Dec. 15.