Tackling unwarranted de-risking: lessons learnt and next steps

  • Conference/Workshop
  • -

The event will present the EBA’s findings on the impact of de-risking on access to financial services in the EU. It will also explore the steps competent authorities can take to tackle this issue and will provide an opportunity for discussion and for the exchange of good practices.

Format and Registration

The event is public and will take place via conference call. Due to the limitations of the online platform, the number of participants may be limited and will be assessed and confirmed on a first-come-first-served basis.

You can register to the event via this registration link no later than 7 March at 16:00 CET.

Background

Credit and financial institutions’ legal obligations include a duty to put in place and maintain policies and procedures to identify and manage money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks associated with their customers. We refer to 'de-risking' when a financial institution takes a decision to refuse to enter into or to terminate business relationships with individual customers or categories of customers associated with higher ML/TF risk. De-risking is an important risk management tool but in the absence of sound, underlying ML/TF risk assessments it can also be a sign of ineffective ML/TF risk management.  Such ‘unwarranted’ de-risking can result in legitimate customers losing their access to financial services.

In 2022, the EBA published a report that sets out EBA’s findings on the scale, drivers and impact of de-risking in the EU. It also issued recommendations to competent authorities and the European Commission on the basis of these findings. In particular, the EBA considers that competent authorities should engage more actively with institutions and with users of financial services that are particularly affected by de-risking, to raise awareness of their respective rights and responsibilities. The EBA also advised the European Commission to clarify the interaction between anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements and the right to access financial services in several pieces of EU legislation.