Ireland Commences Anti-Money Laundering Reforms Amid EU Deadline Pressure

New Legislation Introduced to Strengthen Anti-Money Laundering Framework

The Irish government has published legislation to transpose and commence provisions of the European Union’s (EU) 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5), following a warning from the EU to meet its transposition deadline.

Key Measures Introduced to Enhance Anti-Money Laundering Framework

• Establishment of a central register for beneficial ownership of express trusts
• Enhanced customer due diligence (CDD) requirements when dealing with customers or transactions involving high-risk third countries
• Obligated entities must now execute additional CDD measures when conducting business with customers from high-risk countries, including:
  • Obtaining additional information on the customer and beneficial owner
  • Conducting enhanced monitoring of the business relationship

Expansion of “Designated Person” Definition

The legislation also expands the definition of “designated person” under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 to include virtual asset service providers, such as: * Cryptocurrency exchange platforms * Custodian wallet providers These entities must adopt controls and procedures to counter money laundering or terrorist financing risks and report suspicious transactions.

New Requirements for Beneficial Ownership Information

The regulations require designated persons’ CDD to include checking the customer’s beneficial ownership information has been submitted to the relevant central register.

Impact on In-Scope Entities

As both the 2021 AML Act and the 2021 AML Regulations are now in force, in-scope entities must ensure that their anti-money laundering policies and procedures are updated to reflect the new requirements.