Source: OJ L 150, 9.6.2023, pp. 1–39

Article 6 Transfers of funds to outside the Union

Summary What does Article 6 of the Transfer of funds regulation (TFR) say?

This article establishes two sets of derogations from the full information requirements laid down in Article 4, both specifically applying to cross-border scenarios where the payee's payment service provider is established outside the Union.

The first derogation addresses batch file transfers from a single payer, allowing the full payer information to be held at the batch file level rather than attached to each individual transfer within it, provided certain conditions are met.

The second derogation reduces the information requirements for lower-value transfers not exceeding EUR 1,000 going to non-Union payee service providers, requiring only names and account numbers rather than the full suite of information Article 4 would otherwise demand.

Important points:

As the payer's payment service provider, you may send batch file transfers to non-Union payees without attaching full payer information to each individual transfer, as long as the batch file itself contains and verifies that information.
For transfers not exceeding EUR 1,000 to non-Union payees, you are only required to include the names and account numbers of both payer and payee.
Verification of payer information for those lower-value transfers is not required unless funds are received in cash or anonymous electronic money, or there are reasonable grounds to suspect money laundering or terrorist financing.

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

1. In the case of a batch file transfer from a single payer where the payment service providers of the payees are established outside the Union, Article 4(1) shall not apply to the individual transfers bundled together therein, provided that the batch file contains the information referred to in Article 4(1), (2) and (3), that that information has been verified in accordance with Article 4(4) and (5), and that the individual transfers carry the payment account number of the payer or, where Article 4(3) applies, the unique transaction identifier.
1. By way of derogation from Article 4(1), and, where applicable, without prejudice to the information required in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 260/2012, where the payment service provider of the payee is established outside the Union, transfers of funds not exceeding EUR 1 000 that do not appear to be linked to other transfers of funds which, together with the transfer in question, exceed EUR 1 000, shall be accompanied by at least:
  1. the names of the payer and of the payee; and
  2. the payment account numbers of the payer and of the payee or, where Article 4(3) applies, the unique transaction identifier.
2. By way of derogation from Article 4(4), the payment service provider of the payer need not verify the information on the payer referred to in this paragraph unless the payment service provider of the payer:
  1. has received the funds to be transferred in cash or in anonymous electronic money; or
  2. has reasonable grounds for suspecting money laundering or terrorist financing.

Relevant recitals

Recital 33 Complete information including LEI for transfers to outside the Union

In order to allow the authorities responsible for combating money laundering or terrorist financing in third countries to trace the source of funds or crypto-assets used for those purposes, transfers of funds or transfers of crypto-assets from the Union to outside the Union should carry complete information on the payer and the payee, in respect of transfers of funds, and on the originator and the beneficiary, in respect of transfers of crypto-assets. Complete information on the payer and the payee should include the legal entity identifier (LEI), or any equivalent official identifier, where that identifier is provided by the payer to its payment service provider, since that would allow for better identification of the parties involved in a transfer of funds and could easily be included in existing payment message formats, such as that developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation for electronic data interchange between financial institutions. The authorities responsible for combating money laundering or terrorist financing in third countries should be granted access to complete information on the payer and the payee or on the originator and the beneficiary, as applicable, only for the purposes of preventing, detecting and investigating money laundering and terrorist financing.

Recital 40 Batch fund transfers to outside the Union: payer information in the batch file

As regards transfers of funds from a single payer to several payees that are to be sent in a batch file transfer containing individual transfers from the Union to outside the Union, provision should be made for such individual transfers to carry only the payment account number of the payer or the unique transaction identifier, as well as complete information on the payee, provided that the batch file contains complete information on the payer that is verified for accuracy and complete information on the payee that is fully traceable.

Table of contents

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.