Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

SECTION 1 U.K. General provisions

Article 32 U.K.

1. Each Member State shall establish an FIU in order to prevent, detect and effectively combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

2. Member States shall notify the Commission in writing of the name and address of their respective FIUs.

3. Each FIU shall be operationally independent and autonomous, which means that the FIU shall have the authority and capacity to carry out its functions freely, including the ability to take autonomous decisions to analyse, request and disseminate specific information. The FIU as the central national unit shall be responsible for receiving and analysing suspicious transaction reports and other information relevant to money laundering, associated predicate offences or terrorist financing. The FIU shall be responsible for disseminating the results of its analyses and any additional relevant information to the competent authorities where there are grounds to suspect money laundering, associated predicate offences or terrorist financing. It shall be able to obtain additional information from obliged entities.

Member States shall provide their FIUs with adequate financial, human and technical resources in order to fulfil their tasks.

4. Member States shall ensure that their FIUs have access, directly or indirectly, in a timely manner, to the financial, administrative and law enforcement information that they require to fulfil their tasks properly. FIUs shall be able to respond to requests for information by competent authorities in their respective Member States when such requests for information are motivated by concerns relating to money laundering, associated predicate offences or terrorist financing. The decision on conducting the analysis or dissemination of information shall remain with the FIU.

5. Where there are objective grounds for assuming that the provision of such information would have a negative impact on ongoing investigations or analyses, or, in exceptional circumstances, where disclosure of the information would be clearly disproportionate to the legitimate interests of a natural or legal person or irrelevant with regard to the purposes for which it has been requested, the FIU shall be under no obligation to comply with the request for information.

6. Member States shall require competent authorities to provide feedback to the FIU about the use made of the information provided in accordance with this Article and about the outcome of the investigations or inspections performed on the basis of that information.

7. Member States shall ensure that the FIU is empowered to take urgent action, directly or indirectly, where there is a suspicion that a transaction is related to money laundering or terrorist financing, to suspend or withhold consent to a transaction that is proceeding, in order to analyse the transaction, confirm the suspicion and disseminate the results of the analysis to the competent authorities. The FIU shall be empowered to take such action, directly or indirectly, at the request of an FIU from another Member State for the periods and under the conditions specified in the national law of the FIU receiving the request.

8. The FIU's analysis function shall consist of the following:

(a) an operational analysis which focuses on individual cases and specific targets or on appropriate selected information, depending on the type and volume of the disclosures received and the expected use of the information after dissemination; and

(b) a strategic analysis addressing money laundering and terrorist financing trends and patterns.

[F1 9. Without prejudice to Article 34(2), in the context of its functions, each FIU shall be able to request, obtain and use information from any obliged entity for the purpose set in paragraph 1 of this Article, even if no prior report is filed pursuant to Article 33(1)(a) or 34(1).]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU (Text with EEA relevance).

[F1 Article 32a U.K.

1. Member States shall put in place centralised automated mechanisms, such as central registries or central electronic data retrieval systems, which allow the identification, in a timely manner, of any natural or legal persons holding or controlling payment accounts and bank accounts identified by IBAN, as defined by Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) , and safe-deposit boxes held by a credit institution within their territory. Member States shall notify the Commission of the characteristics of those national mechanisms.

2. Member States shall ensure that the information held in the centralised mechanisms referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is directly accessible in an immediate and unfiltered manner to national FIUs. The information shall also be accessible to national competent authorities for fulfilling their obligations under this Directive. Member States shall ensure that any FIU is able to provide information held in the centralised mechanisms referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article to any other FIUs in a timely manner in accordance with Article 53.

3. The following information shall be accessible and searchable through the centralised mechanisms referred to in paragraph 1:

— for the customer-account holder and any person purporting to act on behalf of the customer

:

the name, complemented by either the other identification data required under the national provisions transposing point (a) of Article 13(1) or a unique identification number;

— for the beneficial owner of the customer-account holder

:

the name, complemented by either the other identification data required under the national provisions transposing point (b) of Article 13(1) or a unique identification number;

— for the bank or payment account

:

the IBAN number and the date of account opening and closing;

— for the safe-deposit box

:

name of the lessee complemented by either the other identification data required under the national provisions transposing Article 13(1) or a unique identification number and the duration of the lease period.

4. Member States may consider requiring other information deemed essential for FIUs and competent authorities for fulfilling their obligations under this Directive to be accessible and searchable through the centralised mechanisms.

5. By 26 June 2020 , the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council assessing the conditions and the technical specifications and procedures for ensuring secure and efficient interconnection of the centralised automated mechanisms. Where appropriate, that report shall be accompanied by a legislative proposal.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU (Text with EEA relevance).

[F1 Article 32b U.K.

1. Member States shall provide FIUs and competent authorities with access to information which allows the identification in a timely manner of any natural or legal persons owning real estate, including through registers or electronic data retrieval systems where such registers or systems are available.

2. By 31 December 2020 , the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council assessing the necessity and proportionality of harmonising the information included in the registers and assessing the need for the interconnection of those registers. Where appropriate, that report shall be accompanied by a legislative proposal.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU (Text with EEA relevance).

Article 33 U.K.

1. Member States shall require obliged entities, and, where applicable, their directors and employees, to cooperate fully by promptly:

(a) informing the FIU, including by filing a report, on their own initiative, where the obliged entity knows, suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that funds, regardless of the amount involved, are the proceeds of criminal activity or are related to terrorist financing, and by promptly responding to requests by the FIU for additional information in such cases; and

[F2 (b) providing the FIU directly, at its request, with all necessary information.]

All suspicious transactions, including attempted transactions, shall be reported.

2. The person appointed in accordance with point (a) of Article 8(4) shall transmit the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article to the FIU of the Member State in whose territory the obliged entity transmitting the information is established.

Textual Amendments

F2 Substituted by Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU (Text with EEA relevance).

Article 34 U.K.

1. By way of derogation from Article 33(1), Member States may, in the case of obliged entities referred to in point (3)(a), (b) and (d) of Article 2(1), designate an appropriate self-regulatory body of the profession concerned as the authority to receive the information referred to in Article 33(1).

Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the designated self-regulatory body shall, in cases referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph, forward the information to the FIU promptly and unfiltered.

2. Member States shall not apply the obligations laid down in Article 33(1) to notaries, other independent legal professionals, auditors, external accountants and tax advisors only to the strict extent that such exemption relates to information that they receive from, or obtain on, one of their clients, in the course of ascertaining the legal position of their client, or performing their task of defending or representing that client in, or concerning, judicial proceedings, including providing advice on instituting or avoiding such proceedings, whether such information is received or obtained before, during or after such proceedings.

[F1 3. Self-regulatory bodies designated by Member States shall publish an annual report containing information about:

(a) measures taken under Articles 58, 59 and 60;

(b) number of reports of breaches received as referred to in Article 61, where applicable;

(c) number of reports received by the self-regulatory body as referred to in paragraph 1 and the number of reports forwarded by the self-regulatory body to the FIU where applicable;

(d) where applicable number and description of measures carried out under Article 47 and 48 to monitor compliance by obliged entities with their obligations under:

(i)

Articles 10 to 24 (customer due diligence);

(ii)

Articles 33, 34 and 35 (suspicious transaction reporting);

(iii)

Article 40 (record-keeping); and

(iv)

Articles 45 and 46 (internal controls).]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU (Text with EEA relevance).

Article 35 U.K.

1. Member States shall require obliged entities to refrain from carrying out transactions which they know or suspect to be related to proceeds of criminal activity or to terrorist financing until they have completed the necessary action in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 33(1) and have complied with any further specific instructions from the FIU or the competent authorities in accordance with the law of the relevant Member State.

2. Where refraining from carrying out transactions referred to in paragraph 1 is impossible or is likely to frustrate efforts to pursue the beneficiaries of a suspected operation, the obliged entities concerned shall inform the FIU immediately afterwards.

Article 36 U.K.

1. Member States shall ensure that if, in the course of checks carried out on the obliged entities by the competent authorities referred to in Article 48, or in any other way, those authorities discover facts that could be related to money laundering or to terrorist financing, they shall promptly inform the FIU.

2. Member States shall ensure that supervisory bodies empowered by law or regulation to oversee the stock, foreign exchange and financial derivatives markets inform the FIU if they discover facts that could be related to money laundering or terrorist financing.

Article 37 U.K.

Disclosure of information in good faith by an obliged entity or by an employee or director of such an obliged entity in accordance with Articles 33 and 34 shall not constitute a breach of any restriction on disclosure of information imposed by contract or by any legislative, regulatory or administrative provision, and shall not involve the obliged entity or its directors or employees in liability of any kind even in circumstances where they were not precisely aware of the underlying criminal activity and regardless of whether illegal activity actually occurred.

[F2 Article 38 U.K.

1. Member States shall ensure that individuals, including employees and representatives of the obliged entity who report suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing internally or to the FIU, are legally protected from being exposed to threats, retaliatory or hostile action, and in particular from adverse or discriminatory employment actions.

2. Member States shall ensure that individuals who are exposed to threats, retaliatory or hostile actions, or adverse or discriminatory employment actions for reporting suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing internally or to the FIU are entitled to present a complaint in a safe manner to the respective competent authorities. Without prejudice to the confidentiality of information gathered by the FIU, Member States shall also ensure that such individuals have the right to an effective remedy to safeguard their rights under this paragraph.]

Textual Amendments

F2 Substituted by Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU (Text with EEA relevance).

(1)

[F1 Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 ( OJ L 94, 30.3.2012, p. 22 ).]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU (Text with EEA relevance).