Article 36 AMLR – Specific enhanced due diligence measures for cross-border correspondent relationships

With respect to cross-border correspondent relationships, including relationships established for securities transactions or fund transfers, involving the execution of payments with a third-country respondent institution, in addition to the customer due diligence measures laid down in Article 20, credit institutions and financial institutions shall, when entering into a business relationship, be required to:

(a)	gather sufficient information about the respondent institution to understand fully the nature of the respondent’s business and to determine from publicly available information the reputation of the institution and the quality of supervision;

(b)	assess the respondent institution’s AML/CFT controls;

(c)	obtain approval from senior management before establishing new correspondent relationships;

(d)	document the respective responsibilities of each institution;

(e)

with respect to payable-through accounts, be satisfied that the respondent institution has verified the identity of, and performed ongoing due diligence on, the customers having direct access to accounts of the correspondent institution, and that it is able to provide relevant customer due diligence data to the correspondent institution, upon request.

Where credit institutions and financial institutions decide to terminate cross-border correspondent relationships for reasons relating to AML/CFT policy, they shall document their decision.