We are Compliance Ireland

We are Ireland’s leading specialist provider of regulatory, risk and corporate governance consulting, advisory and compliance training services. We are regulatory experts. We are independent.

“We solve problems, we analyse challenges and we implement workable solutions”.

Compliance Ireland aims to be your trusted advisor. To go to the Compliance Ireland website click here

We provide AML solutions

Compliance Ireland is a leading expert in Financial Crime issues. Financial Crime means, broadly, anti-money laundering (AML), counter-financing terrorism (CFT), market abuse (e.g. insider dealing) and other types of financial fraud. We advise credit institutions, financial institutions, payment services providers, insurers, bureaux de change and others (e.g. solicitors and accountants) on Financial Crime. We also present on Financial Crime strategies to governments.

Because businesses operate on a global basis, so do we. We have provided our Financial Crime prevention services in Ireland, across the EU, Middle-East and Africa. We have trained regulators at more than one Central Bank  on.how to deal with this area.

We provide a discrete remedial action.

 As a multi-disciplinary management and training consultancy we can provide the following solutions:

• Initial and follow up advice on your financial crime obligations

• Preparation of AML and CFT policies and procedures

• Review of existing AML and CFT policies and procedures including a gap analysis on current legislation

• High level review of current procedures and report on remedial actions necessary

• Substantive review of Customer Due Diligence files

• Provide a discrete remedial action (i.e. clean up) review

• Preparation of business risk assessment

• Provide MLRO services

• Training of Directors, Senior Management, MLRO, Compliance Personnel, customer facing staff and non-customer facing staff to comply with legislation

• On-going AML and CFT compliance support to the business • Support and regulatory advice through enforcement actions

Remediation assistance and Post-rectification reviews

When an AML documentation issue or similar issue has been identified, we can assist you in quantifying the extent of the problem, advise on the implications of the issue and the most efficient way to ensure that the issue is addressed.

We have also conducted post-rectification reviews for firms commissioned at the request of the Central Bank. Our commercial background and expertise in the area ensures time and effort are not wasted on non-relevant areas and efforts can be concentrated on areas of regulatory exposure and real risk of financial crime.

Third EU AML Directive

The third EU AML Directive came into force for EU member states on 15 December 2007. It resulted from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF)previous review of its 40 Recommendations as well as its introduction of the nine Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing.

The Third EU AML Directive deals with both terrorist Financing and Money Laundering. It also provides more detail surrounding ‘Customer Due Diligence (CDD)’ requirements. These are:

• Requirement to not only identify and verify the customer but to also identify the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship.

• Requirement for on-going monitoring of the business relationship and transactions

• CDD to apply to both new and existing customers

• Requirement to identify and verify the beneficial owners of the customer and to know and understand the control structure

• Exemption for Simplified CDD for certain customers and products

• Requirement to undertake Enhanced Due Diligence in higher risk situations. These would include ‘non-face to face customers, Correspondent Banking relationships in ‘Non-EU or Non Country of Equivalence’ countries

This Directive recognised the concept of a risk-based approach to anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing. However, it also introduced explicit obligations on institutions to have appropriate and robust systems and controls to both comply with the law and to demonstrate compliance with the law. From a country point of view it also created obligations on the reporting of statistics of suspicious activities and relationships with Financial Intelligence units.

The third EU AML Directive was transposed into Irish Law by the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010.

To view the Third EU AML Directive click here

First EU AML Directive

This was a basic Directive that implemented the original FATF 40 recommendations. It dealt solely with Money Laundering from the proceeds of drug related crimes and did not include terrorist Financing. It also only applied to certain financial institutions.

Second EU AML Directive

This Directive was implemented in 2001 and broadened the types of offences as well as the categories of institutions that it applied to. It also extended the obligations to gatekeepers including lawyers, accountants, auditors, tax advisers, Estate agents, trust or company service providers as well as casinos, auctioneers and dealers in high value goods.

The following are other relevant international AML bodies.

Egmont Group

The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units was set up in 1995 as an informal group for the stimulation of international cooperation of Financial Intelligence units. The group meets regularly to outline new co-operation strategies in the areas of information exchange, training and expertise sharing.

The goal of the Egmont Group is to provide a forum for FIUs around the world to improve cooperation in the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism and to foster the implementation of domestic programs in this field. This support includes:

• expanding and systematizing international cooperation in the reciprocal exchange of information;

• increasing the effectiveness of FIUs by offering training and promoting personnel exchanges to improve the expertise and capabilities of personnel employed by FIUs;

• fostering better and secure communication among FIUs through the application of technology, such as the Egmont Secure Web (ESW);

• fostering increased coordination and support among the operational divisions of member FIUs;

• promoting the operational autonomy of FIUs; and

• promoting the establishment of FIUs in conjunction with jurisdictions with an AML/CFT program in place, or in areas with a program in the early stages of development.

To view the Egmont Group website click here

Wolfsberg Group

The Wolfsberg group comprises of the following 11 global banks:

• Banco Santander

• Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ

• Barclays

• Citigroup

• Credit Suisse

• Deutsche Bank

• Goldman Sachs

• HSBC

• J.P. Morgan Chase

• Societe Generale

• UBS.

The aim of the group is to develop financial services industry standards for KYC, AML and CFT policies.

The group publishes important papers on AML and CFT principles including:

• Wolfsberg Anti-Money Laundering Principles for Private Banking (Revised May 2002)

• Terrorist Financing

• Correspondent Banking

• Monitoring, Screening and Searching (Revised 2009)

• Risk Based Approach

More recently they have produced papers on the following:

• Wolfsberg Private Banking Principles click here

• Wolfsberg FAQs on Intermediaries click here

• Wolfsberg FAQs on Beneficial Ownership click here

To view the Wolfsberg Group website click here

Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS)

This Committee was established in 1974 and comprises of 27 Central Banks or Supervisory authorities. The purpose of the Committee is to formulate broad standards to be implemented in each national system.

The standards and guidance include the following areas:

• Transparency

• Account opening and customer identification

• CDD • International co-opearation.

To view the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision click here

FATF is an inter-governmental body that was set up in 1989 in response to the threat of anti-money laundering. The main role of FATF is to examine how criminals launder money and the various techniques that they use, to outline measures to combat money laundering and finally to review actions taken at national and international level to implement these measures. FATF also have extended its remit to include Counter Terrorist Financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

It monitors the progress of countries in introducing AML and CFT measures using a variety of techniques including Mutual Evaluation Reports. FATF completed a mutual evaluation report of Ireland in 2005 and is due to return to complete one in 2015. For a copy of Irelands Mutual Evaluation report which was published on the 17th February 2006 click here

FATF have produced a number of recommendations (in 1990, 2003 and finally revised in 2012) that provide a framework for countries to fight money laundering and terrorist financing. The recommendations are broken down in the following areas:

• AML/CFT Policies and Coordination

• Money Laundering and Confiscation

• Terrorist Financing and Financing of Proliferation

• Preventative Measures

• Transparency and Beneficial Ownership of Legal Persons and Arrangements

• Powers and Responsibilities of Competent authorities and other institutional measures

• International Cooperation

The last revision in February 2012 brought key changes in the following areas:

• Tax crimes are now predicate offences

• Politically Exposed Persons to include domestic PEPS as well as foreign PEPS

• Wire Transfers to require information on the originator as well as the beneficiary

• Step by step process for identifying beneficial ownership

For a copy of the revised FATF Recommendations click here