New AML Manual Published

New AML Manual Published

Readers of our regular blog will be delighted to hear that our new Anti-Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing Policies Controls & Procedures Manual is just published and available here on our website for immediate download. This is the first available 2021 AML Manual for Accountants on the Irish market.

The Manual follows the enactment of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts 2010 to 2021 which has come into effect on two dates:

  • 23 April 2021 for all parts of the Act except Section 8 dealing with express trusts; and
  • 24 April 2021 – Section 8 is enacted requiring express trusts to keep a beneficial ownership register.

In future blogs we will look at various parts of the new and existing provisions of this legislation.

For more blogs please visit this link and for our publications and manuals and services click here.

New AML Law Extends List of Red Flag Transactions

New AML Law Extends List of Red Flag Transactions

In our last blog, we mentioned the enactment of the latest AML legislation in Ireland which is the ‘Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Act, 2021’. In the coming weeks we are going to take a look at the various provisions of the new legislation.

Among the provisions of the new Act is one that amends Schedule 4 of the Act of 2010 to specify further red flags, for transactions that could pose a higher risk of money laundering and/or terrorist financing. The 2021 law is yet to be commenced by statutory instrument.

A higher risk is posed where:

  • a customer is a third-country national who applies for residence rights or citizenship in the State in exchange for capital transfers, purchase of property or government bonds, or investment in corporate entities in the State;
  • a product, service, transaction or delivery channel involves the use of non-face-to-face business relationships without the use of certain safeguards such as electronic identification means, relevant trust services or other secure, remote or electronic, identification processes that are officially regulated, recognised, approved or accepted;
  • a transaction relates to oil, arms, precious metals, tobacco products, cultural artefacts and items of archaeological, historical, cultural and religious importance, or of rare or scientific value, including ivory and protected species.

For more blogs please visit this link and for our publications and manuals and services click here.

AML Legislation – The Latest

AML Legislation – The Latest

Are your engagement letters up to date? Probably not!

No sooner had we given our letters of engagement on the website a refresh for Spring 2021, than the Government passed into law the latest anti-money laundering legislation. The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Act 2021 which is number 3 of 2021 was passed into law on 18 March 2021. It awaits commencement by the Minister.

Once it comes into force it will replace the earlier Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts, 2010 to 2018. The new title of the Irish anti-money laundering legislation is the ‘Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts 2010 to 2021’.

The new legislation primarily deals with cryptocurrency, virtual asset providers (VASPs) and estate agents letting property for €10,000 per month or more, high value art dealers and tax advisers (extending the scope of persons who fall within the definition of ‘tax adviser’), among other matters. Previous legislation only dealt with estate agents buying/selling property.

Readers please note that you will need to change the references on your letters of engagement to ‘Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts 2010 to 2021’  with immediate effect and update AML Manuals and training etc.

A later blog will go into more detail about the changes.

At www.jmcc.ie we have refreshed all of our letters or engagement templates for these references and we keep adding new templates which may be viewed at this link.