Art. 96 Access to documents | Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR) | AML

This article governs public access to documents held by the Authority.

It applies the general EU transparency framework (Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001) to the Authority, while carving out important exceptions for confidential supervisory and FIU-related information.

It also establishes a limited right of disclosure to obliged entities involved in supervisory procedures, and places responsibility on the Executive Board to implement the practical rules.

Important points:

The general EU right of access to documents applies to the Authority, but confidential information obtained through supervisory activities and FIU operations is explicitly excluded from that right.
Obliged entities that are parties to a supervisory procedure may access relevant confidential information from that procedure, but this does not extend to internal documents or correspondence between the Authority and financial supervisors.
The Executive Board is required to adopt practical measures for applying the access to documents rules and for governing disclosure of information relating to supervisory procedures.

1. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 shall apply to documents held by the Authority.
1. Decisions taken by the Authority under Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 may be the subject of a complaint to the European Ombudsman or of an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union, under the conditions laid down in Articles 228 and 263 TFEU, respectively.
1. The right of access to documents shall not apply to confidential information comprising:
  1. information or data of the Authority, the financial supervisors or the obliged entities, obtained as a result of carrying out the tasks and activities referred to in Article 5(2) and Chapter II, Section 3;
  2. any operational data or information related to such operational data of the Authority and of the FIUs that is in the possession of the Authority as a result of carrying out the tasks and activities referred to in Article 5(5) and Chapter II, Section 6.
1. The confidential information referred to in paragraph 3, point (a), that relates to a supervisory procedure may be fully or partially disclosed to the obliged entities which are parties to that supervisory procedure, subject to the legitimate interest of other persons in the protection of their business secrets. That access shall not extend to internal documents of the Authority, financial supervisors, or correspondence between them.
1. The Executive Board shall adopt practical measures for applying Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the rules regarding disclosure of information relating to supervisory procedures.