Source: OJ L, 2024/1624, 19.6.2024Current language: EN
- Anti-money laundering
Basic legislative acts
- Anti-money laundering regulation (AMLR)
Article 45 Measures for persons who cease to be politically exposed persons
Summary What does Article 45 of the Anti-money laundering regulation (AMLR) say?
This article addresses what happens when a politically exposed person (PEP) leaves their prominent public function — making clear that the enhanced scrutiny does not simply stop the moment they exit their role.
It builds directly on the PEP-related obligations established in Article 42 and the enhanced due diligence measures in Article 34, extending those requirements into a defined wind-down period after the person's departure from public office.
The core message is that former PEPs continue to carry residual risk, and obliged entities must continue to account for that risk in their assessments and apply mitigating measures accordingly.
Important points:
- Continue applying enhanced due diligence measures to a former PEP for a minimum of 12 months after they have ceased to hold a prominent public function.
- Factor in the continuing risk posed by the person's former role when assessing money laundering and terrorist financing risks in line with Article 20.
- The same obligations apply when entering into a business relationship or carrying out an occasional transaction with someone who held a prominent public function in the past.
Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
Where a politically exposed person is no longer entrusted with a prominent public function by the Union, a Member State, third country or an international organisation, obliged entities shall take into account the continuing risk posed by that person, as a result of his or her former function, in their assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks in accordance with Article 20.
Obliged entities shall apply one or more of the measures referred to in Article 34(4) to mitigate the risks posed by the politically exposed person until such time as the risks referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article no longer exist, but in any case for not less than 12 months following the time when the individual ceased to be entrusted with a prominent public function.
The obligation referred to in paragraph 2 shall apply accordingly where an obliged entity carries out an occasional transaction or enters into a business relationship with a person who in the past was entrusted with a prominent public function by the Union, a Member State, third country or an international organisation.
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
politically exposed person
- in a Member State:
- heads of State, heads of government, ministers and deputy or assistant ministers;
- members of parliament or of similar legislative bodies;
- members of the governing bodies of political parties that hold seats in national executive or legislative bodies, or in regional or local executive or legislative bodies representing constituencies of at least 50 000 inhabitants;
- members of supreme courts, of constitutional courts or of other high-level judicial bodies, the decisions of which are not subject to further appeal, except in exceptional circumstances;
- members of courts of auditors or of the boards of central banks;
- ambassadors, chargés d’affaires and high-ranking officers in the armed forces;
- members of the administrative, management or supervisory bodies of enterprises controlled under any of the relationships listed in Article 22 of Directive 2013/34/EU either by the state, or, where those enterprises qualify as medium sized or large undertakings or medium sized or large groups, as defined in Article 3(3), (4), (6) and (7) of that Directive, by regional or local authorities;
- heads of regional and local authorities, including groupings of municipalities and metropolitan regions, with at least 50 000 inhabitants;
- other prominent public functions provided for by Member States;
- in an international organisation:
- the highest ranking officials, their deputies and members of the board or equivalent functions of an international organisation;
- representatives to a Member State or to the Union;
- at Union level:
functions at the level of Union institutions and bodies that are equivalent to those listed in points (a) (i), (ii), (iv), (v) and (vi);
- in a third country:
functions that are equivalent to those listed in point (a);
Definition
parent undertaking
- for groups whose head office is located in the Union, an obliged entity that is a parent undertaking as defined in Article 2, point (9), of Directive 2013/34/EU that is not itself a subsidiary of another undertaking in the Union, provided that at least one subsidiary undertaking is an obliged entity;
- for groups whose head office is located outside of the Union, where at least two subsidiary undertakings are obliged entities established in the Union, an undertaking within that group established in the Union that:
- is an obliged entity;
- is an undertaking that is not a subsidiary of another undertaking that is an obliged entity established in the Union;
- has a sufficient prominence within the group and a sufficient understanding of the operations of the group that are subject to the requirements of this Regulation; and
- is given the responsibility of implementing group-wide requirements under Chapter II, Section 2 of this Regulation;
Definition
property
Definition
terrorist financing
Definition
group
Definition
money laundering
Definition
third country
Definition
business relationship