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Ireland Takes a Tougher Stance on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Regulations

In recent years, Ireland has experienced a significant rise in financial crime, with police reporting over 500 money laundering crimes in 2020 alone. In response to this growing threat, the Irish government has pledged to bolster its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) regulations.

The Central Bank of Ireland: AML/CFT Regulator

At the heart of Ireland’s AML/CFT regime is the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), which serves as the country’s primary regulator for financial institutions. The CBI’s responsibilities include:

Overseeing compliance with AML/CFT regulations
Conducting on-site inspections
Monitoring risk-based compliance procedures
Enforcing administrative sanctions against non-compliant institutions

Key AML Regulations in Ireland

The primary legislation governing AML/CFT in Ireland is the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, which defines the offence of money laundering and requires financial institutions to implement a risk-based AML/CFT solution. The act also sets out key compliance measures, including:

Customer due diligence
Transaction screening
Watchlist screening
Sanctions screening
Employee training

In addition to the CJA 2010, Ireland has passed several other pieces of legislation aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing, including:

European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2019
European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Trusts) Regulations 2019
European Union (Information Accompanying Transfers of Funds) Regulations 2017

Complying with AML Regulations in Ireland

Financial institutions operating in Ireland must comply with the country’s AML regulations. This requires implementing a range of measures, including:

Customer due diligence: Financial institutions must identify their customers and verify their identity.
Transaction screening: Institutions must screen customer transactions to detect suspicious activity.
Watchlist screening: Firms must screen customers against relevant watchlists, including PEP lists.
Sanctions screening: Institutions must screen against international sanctions lists.
Adverse media screening: Financial institutions should implement an adverse media screening solution to identify risk-relevant information about their customers.

Recent AML Initiatives in Ireland

Ireland is set to implement the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, which will address the AML risks posed by certain crypto-assets and introduce new licensing and registration requirements for crypto-asset service providers. The country has also announced its bid to host the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority.

The Future of AML Screening in Ireland

As AML regulations continue to evolve, financial institutions operating in Ireland will need to invest in next-generation screening solutions that can keep pace with new regulatory obligations and criminal methodologies. Ripjar’s Labyrinth Screening platform is designed to meet these challenges, providing real-time searches against thousands of global media sources and generating actionable financial intelligence in seconds.