Through the Circular, CySEC informs the Regulated Entities that the Joint Committee of the three ESAs, launched on 05.04.17 a public consultation on draft Guidelines that set out:
- what payment service providers (“PSPs”) should do to detect and prevent the abuse of funds transfers for terrorist financing and money laundering purposes; and particularly
- what the intermediary PSPs and the PSPs of the payee should do to detect whether information on the payer or the payee is missing or is incomplete; and
- what PSPs should do to manage a transfer of funds that lacks the required information.
The Guidelines have been drafted in accordance with Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2015/847 which requires the ESAs to issue guidelines to Competent Authorities and PSPs on the measures the latter should take to comply with Regulation (EU) 2015/847 and in particular Articles 7, 8, 11 and 12 of that Regulation. These Guidelines are part of the ESAs’ wider work on fostering a common approach to Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and promote a common understanding of PSPs’ obligations in this area. This is essential to ensure the consistent application of AML/CFT law, which not only strengthens the European Union’s AML/CFT regime but is also a prerequisite for the smooth and efficient functioning of payment systems.
CySEC’s expects that: The Regulated Entities should voluntarily respond to the Consultation Paper on draft Guidelines for the prevention of TF and ML in electronic fund transfers. To respond to the abovementioned public consultation, Regulated Entities were expected to use the consultation form on EBA’s website by 05.06.17.