On 13 December 2022 the Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division organised the workshop “Risk-based supervision: Effective implementation of Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) supervision of agents and distributors of payment service providers”, in Bucharest, Romania.
The event was held following the request of National Bank of Romania (NBR) to learn more about existing good practices in other European Union Member States, as regards the AML/CFT supervision of this specific category of obliged entities. In this regard, the Council of Europe has engaged practitioners from Bank of Italy and Bank of Spain, who kindly accepted to share their extensive experience with their Romanian counterparts.
NBR representatives could therefore benefit from a presentation of the Spanish model of AML/CFT supervision of agents and distributors of money or value transfer services (MVTS), delivered by the Bank of Spain representative. The presentation focused most notably on inspections of MVTS’ agents and distributors, their legal framework in Spain, areas of focus in inspections and red flag indicators used by the supervisor. The second part of the workshop was then dedicated to the presentation of payment services distribution and cross-border activity in the Italian market, including their AML/CFT regulation and controls. For instance, the Bank of Italy representative provided an overview of the Payment Institutions (PIs)’ and Electronic Money Institutions’ (EMIs) sector in their jurisdiction, comparing it to the existing sectors in other EU Member States. NBR representatives could also learn more about the legal framework in Italy and namely the national transposition of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, the newly established register for agents and distributors, as well as the identified payment services and distribution networks.
Finally, the event allowed an exchange of experience regarding the challenges and good practices identified in the practical AML/CFT supervision of agents and distributors. Furthermore, the discussion focused on prospects and challenges for the future, taking into consideration the ever-evolving business models, as well as the evolving regulation at the EU level.
The event was organised within the framework of the Structural Reform Support Programme initiative “Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risk Compliance: Implementing a National Mechanism to Assess and Manage Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risks in Romania”, funded by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.