A spotlight on Ireland

Pursuant to the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 (CJA 2010), the Central Bank of Ireland is the competent authority in Ireland responsible for effectively monitoring credit and financial institutions’ compliance with their Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism obligations.

The provisions in the CJA 2010 apply to those persons in the financial services industry acting in Ireland in the course of business carried on by the person in Ireland.

Ireland’s most recent National Risk Assessment in respect of Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing for Ireland was published in April 2019. This jurisdiction faces similar risks (neither significantly greater nor lesser) to those faced by other European Member States of similar size, with mitigants including Ireland’s:

• single, centralised police force, An Garda Síochána;
• a comprehensive legislative framework criminalising money laundering and terrorist financing; and
• a single, centralised and well-resourced financial services regulator, the Central Bank of Ireland, reflecting the scale and complexity of the financial sector.

Certain sectors such as retail banking, money remittance and bureau de change were given a high-risk rating, whereas non-retail banking, funds/funds administrators and investment firms were given a medium-high risk rating and payment institutions (other than money remitters) a medium-low risk rating.

Ireland was late in implementing in full the EU’s Fifth Anti Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5). The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Bill 2020 was presented to the Dáil (Parliament) on 8 September 2020. The Bill transposes AMLD5 into Irish Law.

The main changes implemented by the most recent amendment include:

• controls around the use of virtual currencies for terrorist financing and limiting the use of pre¬paid cards; · the introduction of more specific enhanced due diligence measures for customers established in high-risk third countries;
• the prevention of credit and financial institutions from creating anonymous safe-deposit boxes;
• a requirement on designated persons, when carrying out CDD on a customer subject to beneficial ownership registration requirements, to ensure that the beneficial ownership information concerning the customer is held on the relevant central register of beneficial owners; and
• the extension of the definition of “designated person” to include a provider engaged in exchange services between virtual currencies and fiat currencies, among others.

An important feature of AMLD5 is the emphasis on cooperation between Member State competent authorities, to be facilitated through the sharing of any information where it is not prevented by law. Information sharing must not be refused on any of the specified grounds set out in section 18 of the Bill.

Pursuant to the EU (Modifications of Statutory Instrument No. 110 of 2019) (Registration of Beneficial Ownership of Certain Financial Vehicles) Regulations 2020, which came into effect on 25 June 2020, ICAVs, credit unions and unit trusts must file their beneficial ownership information with the Registrar of Beneficial Ownership of Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles, Credit Unions and Unit Trusts, by Christmas Day 2020. While currently there are no obligations under Irish law for investment limited partnerships and common contractual funds to file details of their beneficial ownership information, according to the Central Bank, the Register will be extended to cover such entities in due course.