The Joint Committee of European Supervisory Authorities — the European Banking Authority (EBA), European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) — on Monday published its final guidelines today on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.
The guidelines aim to provide financial institutions with tools to help them make informed, risk-based decisions on managing both ongoing business relationships and occasional transactions.
They provide guidance on the factors financial institutions should consider when assessing the money laundering and terrorist financing risks, and establish how firms can revise their customer due diligence measures to mitigate the risks that they identify.
Regulators will also use the guidelines when assessing the adequacy of firms’ risk management systems and controls.
The guidelines “are essential to the European Union’s fight” against money laundering and terror financing, the Joint Committee says in its announcement.
“They set clear, regulatory expectations of the way credit and financial institutions should discharge important AML/CFT obligations and pave the way for a more effective and proportionate European AML/CFT regime that is consistent with international best practice and guidance,” it adds.
Separately, the Joint Committee also published draft regulatory technical standards today to help countries determine when payment providers and electronic money issuers should appoint a central contact point to support the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The draft standards set out the criteria to consider, and list the functions a central contact must have to discharge its role effectively.