EBA study on AML/CF implementation in the EU "Development is good, but not always effective"
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has conducted for seven authorities of the European Union, an in-depth assessment of the implementation of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing prudential requirements for 2019 and published the results on March 22, 2022.
The results of the first of three analyses conducted by the EBA conclude that national supervisors have madesignificant progress in the area of AML/CFT. According to the EBA, the sampled authorities have done a good job in implementing the regulatory requirements.
In addition to operational progress, the authorities expanded their supervisory teams to include staff with a good understanding of relevant international and EU AML/CFT standards. The analyses also showed that European supervisors have made anti-money laundering/terrorist financing one of their main priorities and have improved banking supervision in particular. European banks facing reforms by their respective national authority are under strong pressure to enforce the AML reforms.
However, the report also concludes that despite the positive changes, the monitoring and combating of money laundering and terrorist financing is still not effective enough. In addition to challenges specific to individual authorities and locations, the EBA was able to identify challenges common to all authorities in the sample:
- The identification of money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the banking sector in general and in individual banks;
- Translating the results of the risk assessment into an aligned risk-based oversight strategy;
- The effective use of available supervisory resources, ensuring that sufficient external and on-site monitoring of banks is possible.
- Take proportionate and sufficiently deterrent measures to address vulnerabilities in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The analyses performed are based on risk-based approaches set out in international standards such as Directive (EU) 2015/849 and the Joint Guidelines of the European Supervisory Authorities on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.
The message from the EBA evaluation is clear: more structured anti-money laundering regulation is a major challenge for both national supervisory bodies and banks.
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