The EU's 4th Directive on Anti-Money Laundering MLD4 succeeds the 3rd Directive of 2005. MLD4 must be enacted by member states and obliged entities must comply with the Directive.
AML4 was transposed into Irish law in November 2018, through an amendment to the previous Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act, 2010. The amendment has now passed all stages in the Seanad/Dáil Éireann and was signed by president Michael D. Higgins on the 14th of November, 2018. This updates the 2010 Act, to the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Act 2018.
What's New In MLD4?
Obliged Entities must define the risk level of a customer before determining whether to conduct Standard Due Diligence (SDD) or Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) for their customers.
The above effectively introduces a new level of Due Diligence - a requirement that Enhanced Due Diligence be performed in situations where the risk may be deemed higher.
Obliged Entities will be required to review their customer registers to ascertain if they need to apply Enhanced Due Diligence to any existing customers as PEPs under the new definition, as well as applying these measures to new customers at take-on stage.
Enhanced Due Diligence includes screening for...
Obliged entities must be able to evidence the rationale behind the risk rating applied to each customer.
A politically exposed person (PEP) is an individual who is or has been entrusted with a prominent public function.
Many PEPs hold positions of influence and as a result carry a greater risk, if their influence is abused for the purpose of money laundering, corruption or bribery.
Not only this, but any close business associates or family member of these people will also be deemed as being a risk and therefore could also be added to the PEP list.
As part of the new Directive, the definition of PEPs will be extended to include domestic PEPs i.e. those in prominent public functions or in positions with organisations here in Ireland.
Obliged Entities are required to take steps to identify individuals holding over 25% of the shares of a Company and perform necessary Due Diligence checks.
Obliged Entities will need to ensure that their details for Beneficial Owners of Companies are accurate and up-to-date.
Obliged entities are already required to evidence that they have taken steps to identify, assess, understand, and mitigate AML risk.
CRIFVision-Net has developed products in conjunction with leading anti-money laundering solutions providers to make cost-effective, fully comprehensive Standard and Enhanced Due Diligence and Ultimate Beneficial Owner checks available.
PENALTIES
non-compliance
There are a range of penalties with regard to non-compliance of the new legislation. For breaches by credit or financial institutions, the maximum penalties are at least 5 million euro or 10% of the total annual turnover of the organisation.
RECORD KEEPING
Evidence of CDD documentation after the business relationship has ended is set at 5 years.
ON GOING MONITORING
Risk assessments must be kept up-to-date. PEPs should be assessed up to 18 months after ceasing their public function.
