EMA publications

The EMA frequently responds to government and European consultations on regulation that impacts the e-money and payment services industry. Sometimes, we also express our views on issues that are raised in the public domain where we feel it is important to provide an industry input.

Our publications reflect the views of the EMA as whole; individual members’ views may vary from time to time. The public consultation responses are listed below. For further information on these positions, please contact us.

EMA comments on 4MLD implementation in Latvia

EMA comments on 4MLD implementation in Latvia

We set out our position on the implementation of customer due diligence and local point of contact provisions in 4MLD in a letter sent to the Latvian Ministry of Finance on 27 September.

The letter made a number of comments similar to those set out in previous responses to other EEA member states. These included:

  • Article 12exemption from CDD for some e-money products: we set out a compelling argument for the retention of this provision. While the exemption does not create vulnerabilities, products issued under this Article benefit, for example, the financially excluded segment of the population;
  • Articles 15, 16 and Annex IIthat allow SDD for low-risk products; we emphasised the importance of these provisions for EMIs that rely on the risk-based approach under Article 15 to onboard new customers;
  • disproportionality of the local point of contact requirement under Article 45(9), highlighting that someone located at the central office (e.g. compliance officer or MLRO) would be more knowledgeable and better able to engage with the Latvian regulator.

Read full letter here.

 

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EMA response to Austrian consultation on 4MLD

EMA response to Austrian consultation on 4MLD

We submitted a letter to the Austrian Ministry of Finance on 27 September, welcoming their proposals to no longer include EMIs passporting into Austria on a cross-border basis within the scope of the AML laws.

Although the draft law included the SDD provisions set out in Article 15, it did include the Article 12 e-money exemption. In setting out our arguments, we urged the regulator to consider implementing the exemption.

Regarding the requirement for a local point of contact, we provided arguments similar to those in previous EMA responses to member states’ 4MLD consultations, highlighting that the exchange of information can be facilitated effectively without imposing such a requirement.

The full response can be found here.

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EMA comments on 4MLD & FTR implementation in Luxembourg

The EMA welcomed an opportunity to provide input to the implementation of 4MLD in Luxembourg, and submitted a letter on 25 August.

The letter set out the EMA’s position on the customer due diligence and local point of contact provisions:

  • providing rationale and support for applying the Article 12 e-money exemption from CDD;
  • setting out the importance of implementing the Article 15 simplified due diligence provisions as only a limited type of product can benefit from the Article 12 exemption;
  • emphasising that someone from an issuer’s home office e.g. MLRO, would be better placed to provide a convenient point of engagement in the context of the local point of contact requirement.

We also commented on the implementation of Fund Transfer Regulation Article 2(5)(b), in support of exercising the member state option to exempt national transactions under EUR 1000 for goods and services where the transaction has a unique identifier.

Full details of the EMA’s letter can be found here.

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