Article 15 Identification and verification of beneficiaries of discretionary trusts

This is a draft act

This text has been parsed from the AMLA consultation paper draft as published on 9 February 2026. While we run a suite of validations, the automated parsing can result in errors. Also, before it is finally adopted by the Commission, its wording, numbering and references may change, and entire articles might be removed or added.

Summary What does Article 15 of the RTS on customer due diligence say?

This article deals with a specific and technically nuanced scenario: discretionary trusts.

Building on Article 22(5) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, it sets out what obliged entities must obtain from the trustee of a discretionary trust.

The core challenge with discretionary trusts is that beneficiaries may not yet be determined, as trustees hold the power to select them.

This article therefore requires obliged entities to gather information not just on who the potential beneficiaries might be, but also on whether the trustee has actually exercised their discretion to appoint any — and if not, who the default takers would be.

Important points:

Obtain details from the trustee of a discretionary trust on both the objects of power (those among whom trustees may select beneficiaries) and the default takers (those who become beneficiaries if discretion is not exercised).
Obtain supporting documents to confirm these details are correct and up-to-date.
Take risk-sensitive measures to understand how the trustee's power of discretion can be exercised, and whether it has already been exercised.

Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.

1. For the purposes of Article 22(5) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, the information obliged entities shall obtain from the trustee of the discretionary trust include:
  1. details on the objects of a power and default takers, to establish whether it is a class of natural or legal persons or if the natural or legal persons are already identified;
  2. relevant documents to enable the obliged entity to establish that these details are correct and up-to-date.
1. To comply with paragraph 1, obliged entities shall take risk-sensitive measures to:
  1. obtain sufficient information about how and in which ways the power of discretion can be exercised by the trustee(s);
  2. establish whether trustees have exercised their power of discretion and appointed one or more beneficiaries from among the objects of a power, or whether the default takers have become the beneficiaries due to the trustees’ failure to exercise their power of discretion.

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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.