Source: OJ L, 2024/1620, 19.6.2024Current language: EN
- Anti-money laundering
Basic legislative acts
- Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR)
Article 19 On-site inspections
Summary What does Article 19 of the Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR) say?
This article sets out the Authority's power to conduct on-site inspections, building directly on the investigatory powers established in Article 18.
It governs how inspections are organised and carried out in practice, covering who may conduct them, how inspection teams are formed, and what happens when a person resists.
The article also establishes a cooperative framework between the Authority and national financial supervisors, who are required to actively assist during inspections and can call on other national authorities if needed to enforce compliance.
Important points:
- The Authority may conduct on-site inspections with prior notification to the relevant financial supervisor, but can proceed without prior announcement to the persons being inspected where the efficiency of the inspection requires it.
- Where a person's business premises are also their private residence, the Authority must obtain judicial authorisation before conducting an inspection.
- National financial supervisors are required to actively assist the Authority during inspections and, where someone opposes an inspection, must provide assistance under national law, including sealing premises and records if necessary.
Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
In order to carry out the tasks conferred on it by this Regulation, the Authority may, subject to prior notification of the financial supervisor concerned, conduct all necessary on-site inspections at the business premises of the natural and legal persons referred to in Article 17. With respect to natural persons whose business premises are the same as their private residence, the Authority shall seek and obtain judicial authorisation for an on-site inspection. Where the proper conduct and efficiency of the inspection so require, the Authority may carry out the on-site inspection without prior announcement to those natural and legal persons.
The Authority may decide to entrust the performance of on-site inspections to a joint supervisory team in accordance with Article 16 or to a dedicated team, which could include joint supervisory team members where applicable. The Authority shall be responsible for the establishment and composition of the on-site inspection teams, which shall be done in cooperation with the financial supervisors.
The staff of the Authority and other persons authorised by the Authority to conduct an on-site inspection may enter any business premises and land of the natural or legal persons subject to a decision on investigation adopted by the Authority and, as regards natural persons whose business premises are the same as their private residence, upon obtaining a judicial authorisation for an on-site inspection pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article. The staff of the Authority and other persons authorised by the Authority shall have the powers provided for in Article 21.
The natural and legal persons referred to in Article 17 shall be subject to on-site inspections on the basis of a decision of the Authority.
Staff and other accompanying persons authorised or appointed by the financial supervisor of the Member State where the inspection is to be conducted shall, under the supervision and coordination of the Authority, actively assist the staff of and other persons authorised by the Authority. To that end, they shall enjoy the powers set out in paragraph 3. Staff of financial supervisors of the Member State concerned shall also have the right to participate in the on-site inspections.
Where a person opposes the conduct of an on-site inspection ordered pursuant to this Article, the financial supervisor of the Member State concerned shall provide the necessary assistance in accordance with national law. To the extent necessary for the inspection, such assistance shall include the sealing of any business premises and books or records. Where that power is not available to the financial supervisor concerned, it shall use its powers to request the necessary assistance of other national authorities.
Springlex and this text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. No liability is assumed for its content. The authentic version of this act is the one published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Definition
crypto-asset services
Definition
supervisor
Definition
financial mixed activity holding company
Definition
crypto-asset service provider
Definition
credit institution
- a credit institution as defined in Article 4(1), point (1), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;
- a branch of a credit institution, as defined in Article 4(1), point (17), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, when located in the Union, whether its head office is located in a Member State or in a third country;
Definition
crypto-asset
Definition
establishment
- a branch or subsidiary;
- in the case of credit institutions and financial institutions, an infrastructure qualifying as an establishment under prudential regulation;
Definition
property
Definition
financial institution
- an undertaking other than a credit institution or an investment firm, which carries out one or more of the activities listed in points (2) to (12), (14) and (15) of Annex I to Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(32), including the activities of currency exchange offices (bureaux de change), but excluding the activities referred to in point (8) of Annex I to Directive (EU) 2015/2366, or an undertaking the principal activity of which is to acquire holdings, including a financial holding company, a mixed financial holding company and a financial mixed activity holding company;
- an insurance undertaking as defined in Article 13, point (1), of Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(33), insofar as it carries out life or other investment-related assurance activities covered by that Directive, including insurance holding companies and mixed-activity insurance holding companies as defined, respectively, in Article 212(1), points (f) and (g), of Directive 2009/138/EC;
- an insurance intermediary as defined in Article 2(1), point (3), of Directive (EU) 2016/97 where it acts with respect to life insurance and other investment-related insurance services, with the exception of an insurance intermediary that does not collect premiums or amounts intended for the customer and which acts under the responsibility of one or more insurance undertakings or intermediaries for the products which concern them respectively;
- an investment firm as defined in Article 4(1), point (1), of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(34);
- a collective investment undertaking, in particular:
- an undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) as defined in Article 1(2) of Directive 2009/65/EC and its management company as defined in Article 2(1), point (b), of that Directive or an investment company authorised in accordance with that Directive and which has not designated a management company, that makes available for purchase units of UCITS in the Union;
- an alternative investment fund as defined in Article 4(1), point (a), of Directive 2011/61/EU and its alternative investment fund manager as defined in Article 4(1), point (b), of that Directive that fall within the scope set out in Article 2 of that Directive;
- a central securities depository as defined in Article 2(1), point (1), of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council(35);
- a creditor as defined in Article 4, point (2), of Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(36) and in Article 3, point (b), of Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(37);
- a credit intermediary as defined in Article 4, point (5), of Directive 2014/17/EU and in Article 3, point (f), of Directive 2008/48/EC, when holding the funds as defined in Article 4, point (25), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 in connection with the credit agreement, with the exception of the credit intermediary carrying out activities under the responsibility of one or more creditors or credit intermediaries;
- a crypto-asset service provider;
- a branch of a financial institution referred to in points (a) to (i), when located in the Union, whether its head office is located in a Member State or in a third country;
Definition
third country
Definition
funds