June 16, 2023. The European Banking Authority (hereinafter: “EBA”) has published a report on money laundering and terrorist financing risks in payment institutions (hereinafter: “ML/FT”). The article is a summary of the 2022 ML/FT risk assessment conducted in the payment services sector. In the course of developing the risk assessment, the EBA required supervisors to complete dedicated AML surveys, analyzed the European Commission’s supranational risk assessments, member states’ national risk assessments and supervisors’ sectoral risk assessments, and reviewed the authorizations for payment institutions in PSD2. The purpose of the risk assessment was to understand the scale and nature of ML/FT risks, assess the effectiveness of payment institutions’ internal systems and controls, the effectiveness of supervisory activities.
The purpose of conducting the so-called risk assessment of an obliged institution, as defined in the AML and Terrorist Financing Law (AML Law), is for obliged institutions to understand how high the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing they are exposed to. With a properly conducted risk assessment, obliged institutions have a real chance to effectively prevent the diagnosed risks. This is particularly relevant for obliged institutions working with entities providing services from the cryptocurrency industry.
On August 10, 2022, a new draft of the bill with amendments to the Payment Services Law and the Foreign Exchange Law (list number UD52) was presented on the website of the Government Legislation Center. This bill provides for a number of key amendments to the Payment Services Act.