The EU Anti-Money Laundering Package for Factoring and Leasing Institutions

The AML Package at a Glance

• The four legal acts: AMLR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1624), AMLD6 (Directive (EU) 2024/1640), AMLA Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/1620), and the Money Transfer Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1113).
• Hierarchy of Standards and Regulatory Techniques: Level 1, Level 2 (RTS/ITS), and Level 3 (Guidelines). What becomes mandatory, and what remains open to interpretation?
• Schedule and Application Deadlines: What takes effect when, and what does this mean for ongoing projects?
• Relationship to the Anti-Money Laundering Act: What will be superseded, and where will national discretion and regulatory mandates remain?

Scope of Application of the AMLR

• Classification of Financial Services Institutions in the List of Obligated Entities: Who Remains on the List, and Who Has Been Added?
• Expanded Scope of Obligated Parties and Impact on Business Partners, Intermediaries, and Distribution Channels.
• Group-wide obligations, branches, and third-country situations.
• Immediate prohibitions and thresholds that are relevant to one's own business model.

Internal Control Measures and Risk Management

• Requirements for internal policies, procedures, and controls under the AMLR.
• Risk Analysis: The Interplay of EU-, National-, and Company-Level Risk Assessments.
• Role, Duties, and Responsibilities of the Compliance Function and Anti-Money Laundering Officers
• Comparison with current law.
• Outsourcing: Limits, Documentation, and Retention of Responsibility.

Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Requirements Under the AMLR

• A Comparison of the Classification of General, Simplified, and Enhanced Due Diligence Requirements Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (GwG).
• Events, thresholds, business relationships, and related transactions.
• Identification and verification, including digital identification methods and electronic proofs of identity.
• Beneficial Owners: New Thresholds, Multi-Tiered Ownership and Control Structures, Trusts.
• Politically Exposed Persons, High-Risk Third Countries, and Sanctions Links.
• Obligations regarding updates, monitoring, and record-keeping.

Suspicious Activity Reporting and Cooperation with the FIU

• Reporting Requirements and Reporting Formats Under the New Regime.
• Requirements for Transaction Monitoring and Handling of Suspicious Cases.
• Information sharing, partnerships for information sharing, and data protection guidelines.

The 6th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD6)

• Transparency Registers and Registers of Beneficial Owners: New Data Quality and Reporting Requirements.
• Account and real estate registries, access permissions.
• Supervisory architecture, powers of national supervisory authorities, sanctions, and list of measures.

The AMLA and Its Supervisory Practices

• Structure, Responsibilities, and Powers of the New European Authority.
• Direct and Indirect Supervision: Selection Criteria and Timeline, and Why Indirect Supervision Is the Most Practical Approach for Financial Services Institutions.
• How the AMLA indirectly influences BaFin's supervisory practices through standards and guidelines.
• Sanctions and Penalties: Assessing the Severity of Violations and Determining the Amount of Fines.

Technical Standards (RTS/ITS) and Guidelines

• Overview of the Level 2 Program and the Status of the Consultation Process.
• Assessment of the inherent and residual risk profiles of obligated parties. This also serves as a benchmark for supervisory practices regarding institutions not directly subject to supervision.
• Risk Assessment Methodology for Selection for Direct Supervision.
• Customer due diligence requirements and required data sets; clarifications regarding verification methods.
• Criteria for business relationships, occasional and related transactions, and lower thresholds.
• Classification of Violations and Determination of Fines.
• Group-wide minimum requirements and additional measures in third countries.

From Analysis to Implementation

• Gap Analysis: Procedure, Checklist, and Prioritization.
• Roadmap and milestones leading up to the start of operations.
• Need for adjustments to risk analysis, work instructions, contracts, data, and IT systems.
• Training and documentation requirements, preparation for exams, and supervisory meetings.