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Anti-Money Laundering and Counter the Financing of Terrorism

Our Risk Advisory team have extensive experience in the area of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism, and have worked directly with the Central Bank of Ireland in completing some of the deep-dive AML/CFT inspections in the funds industry. This coupled with our involvement in the production of the AML/CFT Core guidelines means that we are ideally positioned to support our clients from an AML/CFT perspective.

The act of money laundering has become a successful tool for criminals and financers of terrorism worldwide, due to weaknesses that have been exposed within the financial system. In fact, if criminals are prepared to make concessions, the system can be most accommodating. The financial transaction system was set up to provide a safer exchange system for businesses all over the world. It generates detailed and often permanent records of all financial transactions. However, the standards of scrutiny, regulation and law are not consistently and universally applied. Flexibility is the key to success for money laundering.

In response to these risks, and the prevalence of money laundering globally, the EU has taken a strong approach in recent years in order to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The law in Ireland on anti-money laundering (“AML”) and the countering of the financing of terrorism (“CFT”) is governed by The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, as amended by Part 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 2013 (“the Act”). The Act transposes European Union Law on AML and CFT (the Third Money Laundering Directive (2005/60/EC) and its Implementing Directive (2006/70/EC)) into Irish Law. The Fourth Money Laundering Directive has been published, but is yet to be transposed into Irish law.

Deloitte are a leading professional services firm in the provision of AML and CFT support, demonstrated through our involvement in the production of the AML / CFT Core Guidelines, leading Central Bank AML inspections for the funds and banking industry, as well as our market leading experience in the area of AML enhancement programmes (including the largest AML remediation of its type in Ireland). This experience coupled with direct access to the Central Bank and experience conducting inspections, means that we are ideally positioned to support our clients from an AML/CFT perspective. Please see our publications and contact details below to get in touch.

1. Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities Regulations 2016

With effect from November 15th 2016, Article 30(1) of The European Union Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive has been transposed into Irish Law. As a result most corporate and other legal entities incorporated in a Member State are now required to “obtain and hold adequate, accurate and current information on their beneficial ownership”. Read more about the Regulations here.

 

2. The Fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive

European Commission Update

In February 2016 the European Commission published an Action Plan to further strengthen the fight against the financing of terrorism in light of recent terror attacks in Europe.

Read more about the European Commission’s update.

 

3. Central Bank of Ireland Anti-Money Laundering Report 

On November 18th 2015, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) issued the long awaited report on Anti-Money Laundering, Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Financial Sanctions Compliance in the Irish Funds Sector. Over the course of 2014 the CBI carried out on-site inspections, supplemented by Risk Evaluation Questionnaire, the outcomes of these inspections and questionnaires are the subject of the report. While the Funds sector in Ireland is the particular focus of the report, many of the matters raised relate to the broader financial services sector in Ireland.

For the full report see Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Financial Sanctions Compliance in the Irish Funds Sector.

 

4. The Fourth EU Anti Money Laundering Directive 

The final version of the Fourth EU AML Directive is expected to be enacted in early 2015. The purpose of the Directive is to remove any ambiguities in the previous legislation and improve consistency of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CTF) rules across all EU Member States. 

Read the Fourth EU AML Directive for further information.

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