EBA guidelines on the role and responsibilities of the AML/CFT officer

On 14 June 2022, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published the final report on the guidelines for the role and responsibilities of the AML/CFT compliance officer for credit and financial institutions under Article 8 and Chapter VI of Directive (EU) 2015/849.

According to the EBA, the AML/CFT compliance officer has a key role for the AML/CFT efforts within a bank. Therefore, the role of the compliance officer is basically appointed at management level.

If the credit or financial institution has a management body, a member of the management body must be identified who is responsible for the implementation of the law, regulations, and administrative provisions to comply with AML/CFT requirements. Further, the management body should also be responsible for the approval of the overall AML/CFT strategy. As a consequence, it is necessary that the management body of a credit or financial institution possesses the relevant knowledge, skills, and experience in AML/CFT compliance. It should have an understanding of all central risks for the institutions and significant knowledge of the national legal and regulatory framework. In addition, the EBA clearly describes the role, tasks, and responsibilities of the AML/CFT compliance officer. High levels of skills and expertise on the job should be mandatory when a compliance officer is appointed. Also, the compliance officer should have sufficient authority to propose, on his/her own initiative, all necessary or appropriate measures to ensure the compliance and effectiveness of the internal AML/CFT measures.

The expectations regarding the role go into detail for:

• Specific details of the AML/CFT’s reporting expectations like information that have to be included in AML/CFT compliance officer’s report)
• Communication and information that must be transmitted to the FIU
• Training
• Cooperation between the AML/CFT compliance function and other functions risk and internal audit

All in all, the EBA underlines the importance of the AML/CFT compliance in credit and financial institutions. It clearly assigns the role to the senior management and sets high expectations on the skills and experiences on the role of the compliance officer.