The European Supervisory Authorities (ESA), comprised of The European Banking Authority (EBA), European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), published joint guidelines on information exchange and cooperation between the authorities regarding anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). “The Guidelines are broadly based on, and consistent with, the framework of colleges of prudential supervisors of banks, but the scope of these Guidelines is much wider and encompasses all financial sectors in a proportionate manner.” This is the first time colleges of AML/CFT supervisor have been established in the EU for this purpose.  

The European Network of Credit Unions commented on these guidelines and encouraged prudential regulators to utilize the improved communication with an eye towards reducing regulatory burden on credit unions.  ENCU is pleased to see that many of the adopted guidelines, including the mapping guidelines, were adopted with proportionality in mind and should not significantly increase regulatory burdens on credit unions.  Further, the framework should increase the effectiveness of AML/CFT supervision.  

The ESA’s hope to address long standing compliance failures attributed to cross border AML/CFT crimes that were able to occur due to a failure in communication between AML/CFT supervisors. The guidelines aim to establish a “formal cooperation framework” between supervisors in various Member States in order to maintain effective supervision of firms operating on a cross-border basis. Included is this framework, is an outline for establishing AML/CFT colleges when a firm operates in more than three Member States. Additional information on the ESA joint guidelines and a copy of the guidelines can be found here.