FIN.

ESAs publish wire transfer guidelines for PSPs

The Joint Committee of the ESAs has published guidelines  under the revised Wire Transfer Regulation which was part of the MLD4 package, and that requires payment service providers to establish specific information about the payer and payee in electronic transactions, to combat terrorist financing and money laundering. In an effort to harmonise regulatory expectations across the EU, the guidelines ‘set clear, common regulatory expectations of payment service providers’ policies and procedures’. The guidance suggests methods to detect missing and incomplete information, and what how to manage transfers that lack the required information. The guidelines include a requirement that PSPs treat meaningless information as if it were missing information and set their systems to trigger alerts if calibrated high-risk indicators are present. The procedures should address when and whether the PSP should execute, reject or suspend a transfer where information is missing or not provided in admissible format and what should follow that decision. The Guidelines also address when missing information may give rise to a suspicion of money laundering or terrorist finance., and provide a notification template to use when reporting a PSP/IPSP that repeatedly fails to provide the information.

 

Emma Radmore