In the Republic of Ireland, accountancy firms are required to implement policies and procedures to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering legislation.
The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, as amended (the Act) increases the obligations on a range of entities, such as credit and financial institutions, lawyers, accountants, and high-value goods dealers, in relation to money laundering and terrorist financing. In particular, it imposes requirements on those entities relating to assessing the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing involved in carrying out their businesses; putting policies in place to mitigate that risk; and carrying out customer due diligence measures. It also sets out the functions and powers of the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Garda Síochána.
The AML review of your firm, will examine the following areas;
- Anti-Money laundering policies and procedures for the firm
- Firm business risk assessments
- Customer due diligence procedures
- Suspicious Transaction Reporting
- AML education and training
There are three possible outcomes from this review;
| Grade |
Action |
| Compliant |
No follow up action necessary. |
| Generally compliant |
Some follow-up action will be required within a specified period (1 to 3 months) to address areas of weakness identified. |
| Non compliant |
Where a significant number of areas of weakness or more serious problems are identified a detailed plan to address will be required to be implemented. Depending on the severity of the weaknesses, this may result in a referral to the Director of Professional standards. |
For further guidance on AML legislation and registration click
here.