AML legislation: Amendments

AML Luxembourg legislation and CSSF regulation further amended with immediate effect.

On 20 August 2020, two pieces of legislation amending the applicable AML/CFT legal and regulatory framework were published:

• Grand-ducal Regulation of 14 August 2020 amending Grand-ducal Regulation of 1 February 2010 providing details on certain provisions of the Law of 12 November 2004 on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, as amended (“AML GDR”); and
• CSSF Regulation 20-05 of 14 August 2020 amending CSSF Regulation 12-02 of 14 December 2012 on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (“AML CSSF Regulation”).

Coordinated versions of both the AML GDR and the AML CSSF Regulation are available on the CSSF website.

In addition to the changes tending to align wordings and references with the latest revisions made to the AML Law, other key amendments notably include:

• clarifications on the tasks and duties of the AML/CFT Officer (RC) and AML/CFT Compliance Officer (RR);
• reinforcement of the oversight obligations on the third parties to which implementation of AML/CFT professional obligations is delegated (e.g. enhancement of contractual requirements);
• enhanced requirements in terms of formalisation of the AML/CFT procedures;
• clarifications of CSSF expectations in terms of controls on the assets (screening, risk analysis);
• precisions on KYC information to be gathered;
• examples of simplified due diligence measures and of mitigation measures applying to non face-to-face relationships are now provided.

All targeted entities, including investment funds and their investment fund managers should therefore ensure that their own AML/CFT policies and procedures are updated to take into account the recent modifications made to the AML GDR and the AML CSSF Regulation.

They should further liaise with their delegates involved in the implementation of the AML/CFT obligations (i) to ensure their own procedures are updated and, where necessary, identify the incomplete due diligence files in light of the new requirements and define a remediation plan in that respect, and (ii) where necessary, to review and update the contractual arrangements in place.