AMLA Finalizes Draft EU Standards for Customer Checks and AML Controls

The EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) has finalized three sets of draft regulatory technical standards to harmonize how businesses prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

The standards cover customer due diligence, business relationships and occasional transactions, and group-wide AML/CFT arrangements. The final drafts have been submitted to the European Commission.

The transaction standards clarify when customer interactions constitute an ongoing business relationship and how linked transactions should be identified. Linked transactions would be assessed by their combined value when determining whether due diligence thresholds are met. For remittances, currency exchange, and certain digital asset services, firms would need to consider a one month period when assessing transaction links.

The due diligence draft specifies what customer information firms should collect and verify, alongside requirements for remote verification, electronic identification, and screening politically exposed persons, their family members, and close associates. In low-risk cases involving individual customers, businesses would not be required to collect and verify their address.

The group-wide standards cover governance, risk assessments, internal controls, and secure information sharing. Information would be shared on a need-to-know basis, subject to data protection requirements. The draft also sets out steps for groups whose overseas branches or subsidiaries face local laws that restrict compliance.

AMLA developed the standards with national supervisors and stakeholder input, including public consultations and hearings.

The proposals remain subject to European Commission review and potential amendments. Following adoption and publication in the EU’s Official Journal, they are proposed to apply six months after entering into force.