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Italy’s AML KYC Regulations: What You Need to Know

Italy, a Mediterranean nation with one of the largest economies in Europe and a historically-strong manufacturing industry, has attracted criminals who exploit its financial system to launder money and commit other crimes. To combat this threat, Italy’s government has implemented strict anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) regulations.

Regulatory Framework

The Bank of Italy is the primary AML regulator in Italy, providing supervision for all banks and financial institutions in the country. Its duties and responsibilities include:

Preparing and developing AML/CFT regulations
Assessing and analyzing compliance
Imposing penalties and sanctions on non-compliant entities
Conducting risk analysis
Publishing documentation
Participating in international efforts

Main AML Regulation

Italy’s main AML regulation is Legislative Decree No. 231/2007, which sets out the definition of money laundering and requires firms to take a risk-based approach to AML/CFT compliance. As an EU member state, Italy must also implement the EU Parliament’s Anti-Money Laundering Directives (AMLD) in its laws.

Risk-Based Approach

To effectively comply with these regulations, firms need to capture and understand the level of risk that individual customers present. One effective way of doing this is through adverse media screening, which involves searching for news stories about customers. This requires searches of:

Domestic Italian news stories
Global news stories in multiple languages
Print and screen media
New media formats

Initiatives to Strengthen AML Regulation

The Bank of Italy has recently taken initiatives to strengthen AML regulation, including:

The establishment of a new Anti-Money Laundering Supervision and Regulatory Unit (SNA)
A commitment to reorganize and strengthen Italy’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)

The EU is also establishing a new European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which will help enforce and standardize AML/CFT regulations across member states.

Meeting the Challenges of AML Compliance

To meet the challenges of AML compliance in Italy, firms need efficient, agile, automated screening solutions that can adapt to changing risk landscapes. Ripjar’s Labyrinth Screening platform is designed for this purpose, offering:

Customizable adverse screening tools
Powerful adverse media name search capabilities in over 25 languages