Circular CSSF 24/861 is a CSSF circular amending Circular CSSF 19/732 of 20 December 2019 on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: clarifications on the Identification and Verification of the Identity of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner(s), published 5 September 2024.
\nRelevant for: AIFMs, AISPs, Central Securities Depositories (CSDs), Credit institutions, Credit servicers, Crowdfunding service providers, Data Reporting Service Providers (DRSPs), E-money institutions, Investment firms, Investment fund managers, Investment funds and vehicles, Management companies - Chapter 15, Management companies - Chapter 16, Other specific authorisations, registrations and information, Part II UCIs, Payment institutions, Payment institutions/electronic money institutions/AISPs, Pension funds, Securitisation undertakings, SICARs, SIFs, Specialised PFS, Support PFS, UCITS, Virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
\nMain topic: Financial crime. Keywords: AML/CFT.
\nAmends Circular CSSF 19/732.
\namending Circular CSSF 19/732 of 20 December 2019 on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: Clarifications on the Identification and Verification of the Identity of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner(s)
\nTo all professionals under AML/CFT supervision of the CSSF
\nLuxembourg, 5 September 2024
\nLadies and Gentlemen, This circular modifies point 74 of Circular CSSF 19/732 of 20 December 2019 on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: Clarifications on the Identification and Verification of the Identity of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner(s) with immediate effect. Point 74 will be replaced by the following: “Where legal persons or arrangements are in between the customer and the natural person beneficial owner, their identification, with its documentation and verification, has to be done according to a risk-based approach”.
\nYours faithfully,
\nAnnex
\nCIRCULAR CSSF 24/861 amending Circular CSSF 19/732 of 20 December 2019 on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: Clarifications on the Identification and Verification of the Identity of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner(s)
\nPrevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: Clarifications on the Identification and Verification of the Identity of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner(s)
\nPrevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: Clarifications on the Identification and Verification of the Identity of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner(s) To all professionals under AML/CFT supervision of the CSSF
\nLuxembourg, 20 December 2019 Ladies and Gentlemen,
\nThe purpose of this circular is to provide guidance to all professionals subject to AML/CFT supervision of the CSSF in relation to the legal requirements applicable to the identification and verification of the identity of the ultimate beneficial owner with a view to enhancing financial transparency.
\nThe concept of ultimate beneficial ownership1 (hereinafter referred to also as “UBO”) is not novel as the term “beneficial owner” already appeared in the first anti-money laundering directive dating from 1991.2 Yet, said first anti-money laundering directive did not define the concept of beneficial owner and contained little detail on the relevant procedures with regard to customer identification and verification obligations including of beneficial owners (know your customer). This gap was filled with the adoption of the third anti-money laundering directive as a definition of what constitutes a beneficial owner was provided for in Article 3(6).3 The fourth anti-money laundering directive4 (hereinafter “4AMLD”) has provided significant clarifications5 in view of the concrete implementation of the beneficial owner concept while simultaneously taking into account the 2012 FATF Recommendations, particularly Recommendations 10, 24, 25, its interpretive notes, as well as immediate outcomes 4 and 5 described in the FATF Methodology for assessing the effectiveness of AML/CFT systems.
\nThe French equivalent is bénéficiaire effectif. The terms bénéficiaires économiques and bénéficiaires réels have equally been used in the past but are however no longer applicable.
\n2 Council Directive 91/308/EEC of 10 June 1991 on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering.
\nThe text above is the opening of the document; the PDF carries the whole.
\nDocument page, PDF. Source: Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), reproduced with the CSSF's consent. The French text prevails.
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