Austria’s AML/CTF supervisors
By receiving, analysing, and publishing reports on questionable transactions related to money laundering and terrorism financing, the Austrian Financial Intelligence Unit (A-FIU) oversees preventing money laundering.
The regulation of credit institutions, insurance undertakings, investment businesses, investment service providers, and payment institutions is within the purview of the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA). The Financial Markets Anti-Money Laundering Act compliance is monitored by the FMA in its capacity as a supervisory authority.
How do you comply with AML/CTF regulations in Austria?
Several obligations for the required entities are established under the Financial Markets Anti-Money Laundering Act. These consist of:
The conduction of a risk assessment to identify and evaluate any potential ML/TF concerns.
Customer and transaction due diligence measures must be carried out:
- When beginning a business relation
- When carrying out sporadic transactions that either involve an amount of at least EUR 15,000 or its equivalent in another currency or involve a transfer of funds that exceeds EUR 1,000
- For each deposit into savings and each withdrawal from savings, if the amount deposited or withheld is at least EUR 15,000 or its equivalent in another currency
- If the institution is wary of money laundering or terrorism financing and there are questions about previously acquired identification data
Based on a unique risk assessment, the due diligence measures will comprise:
Identifying the consumer and verifying the customer’s identification
Locating and validating the beneficial owner, the trustor, and the trustee, if appropriate
Evaluating the goal and intended nature of the business relationship and gathering information on it
Obtaining and verifying data regarding the funding source
Monitoring the business relationship continuously, including close examination of transactions
The mandatory conduction of enhanced due diligence when the risk assessment shows a higher risk of ML/TF (In circumstances of lower risk, it is possible to conduct simplified due diligence)
Obligation to keep copies of the following information:
- Copies of the paperwork and data gathered during the customer due diligence, for a period of 10 years following the conclusion of the commercial connection or a one-time transaction
- Receipts and transaction records for ten years following the conclusion of the business partnership or a one-time transaction
Establishing rules, controls, and procedures is required for the efficient reduction and management of ML/TF risks. These include:
- Customer-level risk classification
- Risk management systems
- Customer due diligence
- Reports of suspicious activity
- Documentation preservation
- ML/TF provisions training, including how to identify potential ML/TF related activities and what to do in them
The duty to conduct internal audit of policies and procedures
The duty to designate a special officer to oversee act observance and a member of the management board to guarantee that policies intended to stop or combat ML/TF are followed.
What are my AML/CTF reporting obligations?
There is a responsibility to immediately report to the appropriate authorities if the required entities know or suspect that:
A transaction that is being attempted, is scheduled to take place, is currently being conducted, or involved assets related to one of the offences enumerated in Article 165 of the StGB (money laundering offences)
A component of an asset results from one of the offences outlined in Article 165 StGB
A client disregarded the requirement to reveal trust ties
A prior, current, or attempted transaction; or if the assets are linked to a terrorist organisation, a criminal group, a terrorist crime, or terrorism financing
Additionally, all transactions exceeding EUR 100,000 or a currency of similar value must be reported by obligated companies to the A-FIU:
When a person's incorporation or primary residence are in a non-cooperative nation or territory, or when that person is the originator or beneficiary;
In which transactions into or out of an account held at a foreign credit institution or financial institution based in a non-cooperative nation or territory are executed.
Credit institutions must promptly notify the A-FIU of any requests to remove savings accounts if the following conditions are met:
The customer's identification for the savings deposit has not yet been established
The reimbursement will be paid from a savings account with a credit balance of at least 15,000 euros, or the equivalent in other currencies
