6th Anti-money Laundering Directive – Are You Prepared?
September 22, 2020
Businesses need to be compliant with the 6AMLD regulations by 3rd December 2020 – with the date quickly approaching, are you prepared?
Don’t get caught out by the latest updates to the anti-money laundering directive, ensure that your business is ready for these new AML changes to happen – there’s not long to go.
Our last blog (which you can read here) explores the changes and updates that are being implemented in the latest directive with the risks to your business, but what will 6AMLD do?
- Provide clearer definitions of crime & their penalties
- Extend criminal liability to legal persons & companies with tougher punishments
- Businesses will be required to cooperate with each other in the prosecution of money laundering related crimes
- Protect customers from cybercrime & tackle terrorism finance
- Fight cybercrime to root out money laundering
- Virtual currencies present new risks and challenges for combating money laundering
One of the objectives of the Sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive is the listing of 22 predicate offences relating to money laundering, providing clear definitions of each specific crime. For existing regulated businesses, the changes focus on three areas: cybercrime, cooperation and criminal liability.
Cybercrime has never been mentioned in an AML Directive previously, so this is huge for businesses to take on board. It’s a key focus to reduce the number of online crimes that are occurring. The fact that cybercrime is at the forefront of regulators’ minds, enables businesses to pinpoint and tackle any potential money laundering activity efficiently and effectively.
Businesses will also be required to cooperate with each other in the prosecution of money laundering related crimes under this new update. This means that if a crime takes place between two businesses, they will now be required to work together to identify the offender and prosecute them in one single way.
For the first time ever, companies or ‘legal persons’ can be held accountable for the crimes. This means that if an individual within your business of significance – classed as a ‘legal person’ – has failed to prevent criminal activity from happening, then that person and your business can be punished for the act.
How we can help
It is important to note that 6AMLD is more than just another major deadline; it is another marker in the never ending battle against money laundering and other financial crimes. New threats will continue to emerge, and as a result, the frequency and scope of new regulations is bound to increase.
Be prepared on time. With Acuant’s global answers to identity verification & KYC, you will be able to verify and onboard up to 68% more customers than with traditional identity verification methods, using our single universal API.
Our one simple, global solution, Sodium, can enable you to verify your customers in real-time. Utilise a single element or multiple processes – it’s entirely up to you. Learn more about how we can help to automate and simplify your verification processes to help you to learn more about your customers.
