A Compliance Professional’s Guide to AMLR Article 75

Money laundering is expected to reach $4.5 - 6 trillion by 2030, and the current rate of recovery stands at less than 1% annually. This makes financial crime like money laundering and terrorism financing a major problem for governments, financial institutions, and regulators. Addressing these challenges requires better coordination, faster information sharing, and systems that keep pace with changing criminal methods.

AMLR Article 75 is designed to meet this need as it supports cooperation across borders and sectors. It allows financial institutions, regulators, and authorities to exchange key information in real time, reducing the gaps that criminals use to move money unnoticed.

This blog will cover what Article 75 includes, what it means for compliance teams, and the practical challenges ahead. It will also look at how it could improve coordination across jurisdictions.

The Problems That Led To The Creation of Article 75

As global financial crime continues to rise, stakeholders across the public and private sectors are increasingly questioning the efficacy of current anti-money laundering (AML) frameworks. 

UK banks and fintech companies invest £21,400 every hour in tackling financial crime and fraud, with yearly compliance expenses reaching £38.3 billion. Despite significant investments and efforts, FinCrimes like money laundering and terrorism financing still account for massive losses worldwide.

Limitations of Current AML Systems

A significant challenge lies in how financial crimes are investigated and prevented. The traditional methods, such as the Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) systems, have proven to be slow and often fail to track cross-border criminal activities effectively. Criminals are adept at exploiting these gaps, moving illicit funds across multiple jurisdictions and institutions with relative ease. 

Moreover, information sharing between financial institutions, regulators, and law enforcement agencies has typically been disjointed, limiting timely intervention and prosecution.

The Need for Better Collaboration and Information Sharing

Recognizing these systemic shortcomings, the European Union (EU) introduced AMLR Article 75 as part of its broader strategy to enhance international collaboration in stopping FinCrime. The regulation aims to break down the barriers to real-time intelligence sharing and allow cross-sector and cross-border partnerships.

The EU aims for AMLR Article 75 to strengthen cooperation across financial institutions, public authorities, and private entities, including regulators, law enforcement, and non-financial businesses like law firms, real estate agents, and casinos. These groups can offer important information on suspicious behavior, helping build an identification map of potential criminal networks.

Key Participants of AMLR Article 75 In FinCrime Prevention

AMLR Article 75 is designed to enable collaboration across sectors and borders in the fight against financial crime. One of its defining features is the diverse range of participants that can engage in information-sharing partnerships. 

These include both public and private sector stakeholders who are responsible for preventing money laundering (ML) and terrorism financing (TF). Key participants in these partnerships include:

• Obligated entities: These are financial institutions like banks, insurance companies, and payment service providers. However, the scope extends beyond the financial sector, encompassing other industries such as law, accounting, real estate, and gaming, including casinos.
• Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs): National bodies responsible for receiving, analyzing, and disseminating financial intelligence related to suspected financial crimes.
• Competent authorities: Regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies that are tasked with ensuring compliance with financial crime regulations.

The Type of Information That Can Be Shared Across Institutions

Article 75 defines the types of information that can be shared under these partnerships. The scope is quite broad, and it includes operational, transactional, and personal data, which are important for identifying and preventing criminal activities. This information can be shared when it is necessary to perform tasks related to AML and CFT obligations.

Key types of shareable information include:

• Customer transaction data: This involves detailed records of financial transactions, including deposits, withdrawals, or transfers that raise suspicion.
• Customer due diligence (CDD) information: Details about the customer’s background, business activities, and any red flags that may have emerged during the customer due diligence process.
• Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs): When financial institutions or other obliged entities detect suspicious transactions, they may file SARs, which can be shared with other parties in the partnership for further investigation.
• Personal data: Information such as customer names, identification numbers, and beneficial ownership details can also be shared, provided the sharing adheres to data protection laws and privacy safeguards.

These partnerships provide real-time access to key information, helping stakeholders respond quickly and more precisely to new threats. At the same time, strict safeguards are in place to ensure the data is used appropriately and privacy is protected.

Conditions For Sharing Information Under AMLR Article 75

The sharing of information is permissible under AMLR Article 75 only when it is necessary for the performance of regulatory tasks under AML and CFT obligations. This ensures that the information sharing is targeted and relevant to the fight against FinCrime.

Circumstances under which information can be shared are as follows:

• High-risk customers: Information about customers identified as high-risk based on their behavior, transaction patterns, or involvement in certain regions or industries can be shared.
• Strategic threats: When there is a shared understanding of new FinCrime typologies, information can be exchanged to improve risk assessments and monitoring systems.
• Regulatory requirements: The sharing of information is also allowed when it supports the regulatory obligations of the participants, ensuring compliance with EU or national AML and CFT frameworks.

However, information cannot be shared indiscriminately. Article 75 requires that data-sharing agreements be closely aligned with legal frameworks to ensure compliance with data privacy laws, such as GDPR.

The Potential Value of AMLR Article 75 in Reducing FinCrime Activities

AMLR Article 75 plays an important role in enhancing the fight against financial crime by facilitating efficient and effective information sharing across borders and sectors. This regulation enables stakeholders to exchange data in real time, helping spot suspicious activities earlier, improve risk management, and create a more proactive response to financial crime. 

Here’s how AMLR Article 75 brings value:

Strengthening the Capacity to Spot Suspicious Transactions

AMLR Article 75 helps public and private organizations spot suspicious activity sooner. By sharing information quickly, they can act before delays give criminals a chance to slip through the cracks. This makes it easier to catch money laundering and terrorism financing before it goes unnoticed.

Faster and More Accurate Data Exchange

The regulation makes it faster and easier for institutions to share accurate data. This helps uncover hidden patterns of criminal activity. With better information, teams can respond quickly, recover assets more effectively, and build stronger cases. It also improves oversight of financial transactions, especially when they cross borders.

Preventing Cross-Border Evasion by Criminal Groups

AMLR Article 75 enhances cross-border cooperation, preventing criminal groups from exploiting national borders to avoid detection. It ensures that financial crimes are detected and acted upon quickly by enabling real-time data sharing between countries and sectors, regardless of where the criminal activities occur.

Improved Risk Management for Compliance Professionals

Compliance professionals gain real-time access to critical cross-sector and cross-border information, enabling them to assess risks more accurately. AMLR Article 75 supports enhanced risk management by providing the tools needed to refine transaction monitoring systems, allowing compliance teams to identify suspicious activity that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Building Trust Between Private and Public Sectors

One of the core objectives of AMLR Article 75 is creating trust between private and public sectors, which historically has been limited by concerns over data privacy. It establishes cooperation among regulators, law enforcement, and financial institutions by providing a legal framework for information sharing.

Increasing the Flow of Valuable Intelligence

As trust builds between stakeholders, they share more valuable intelligence, helping institutions respond to financial crime more effectively. AMLR Article 75 supports this collaboration, making it easier for teams to spot risks early and take action quickly. With better information sharing, compliance teams can catch potential threats before they grow.

The Limitations Existing After Implementation of AMLR Article 75

While AMLR Article 75 represents a significant step forward in improving information sharing and cross-border collaboration, it does come with certain limitations. Some critics argue that Article 75 does not go far enough in its efforts to tackle FinCrime, especially when it comes to the scope of information sharing and its practical implementation.

Key criticisms include:

• High-risk customer focus: Article 75 permits the sharing of information only concerning high-risk customers or suspicious activity. While this is necessary for privacy and compliance with data protection laws, some argue that this limitation might prevent the sharing of valuable information on individuals or entities that fall outside these parameters but are still involved in criminal activity.
• Post-suspicion information sharing: Information can only be shared after suspicion has been raised or when certain risk criteria are met. This may delay the identification and prevention of criminal activity that has not yet reached the level of suspicion. A more preventive approach, where information can be shared more proactively, could strengthen FinCrime prevention efforts.
• Limited innovation: Some argue that AMLR Article 75 does not do enough to promote newer approaches to data analysis and sharing. Its emphasis is still largely on standard transaction monitoring and due diligence, rather than on newer technologies such as AI-based fraud detection, which could increase speed and improve the accuracy of risk assessments.

How Lucinity Can Help with AMLR Article 75 Compliance

As AMLR Article 75 improves cross-sector and cross-border information sharing, financial institutions need tools that fit smoothly into their compliance workflows. Lucinity’s AI tools are built to help institutions align with the requirements of Article 75.

Lucinity’s comprehensive platform provides powerful solutions that allow institutions to:

• Streamline data sharing: Lucinity's Case Manager brings together data from various sources into one platform, making it easier for stakeholders to collaborate and exchange information. It works alongside existing compliance systems, so institutions can meet AMLR Article 75 requirements without needing to replace their current technology setup.
• Enhance collaboration: Lucinity's Luci AI Agent helps compliance teams accelerate investigations through AI and automation. Its features for summarizing complex information and mapping money flows support the practical needs of AMLR Article 75 by improving coordination between financial institutions and regulators.
• Ensure data security and compliance: Lucinity’s Project Aurora has shown that through homomorphic encryption, cross-border money laundering can be prevented in a more effective way. 
• Facilitate real-time reporting and auditing: Lucinity’s Regulatory Reporting feature enables financial institutions to automatically prepare and submit Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and other required documents. It streamlines the reporting process, helping compliance teams meet AMLR Article 75 obligations accurately and on time while reducing manual workload.

Wrapping Up

AMLR Article 75 is an important step in improving cross-border and cross-sector collaboration to combat financial crime. It enables more efficient information sharing among financial institutions, regulators, and law enforcement, overcoming previous legal and data protection barriers.

Although the regulation addresses many challenges, there are areas to refine, such as expanding the scope of data sharing and integrating AI for faster detection. Financial institutions should adopt tools like Lucinity’s AI-powered platform to streamline compliance and improve investigation efficiency.

With this foundation, AMLR Article 75 presents a significant opportunity for more robust FinCrime prevention.

1. AMLR Article 75 enhances collaboration between institutions and authorities to improve financial crime prevention.
2. Efficient information sharing breaks down barriers for cross-border and cross-sector cooperation.
3. There is potential for expansion in data sharing and AI integration to enhance detection and risk management.
4. Financial institutions can maximize the impact of AMLR Article 75 by using AI-powered tools like Lucinity’s platform to streamline investigations and ensure compliance.

To learn more about how AI-powered monitoring and compliance solutions can support your organization in implementing AMLR Article 75, visit Lucinity today!

FAQs

1. What is AMLR Article 75?
AMLR Article 75 is a regulation within the European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering framework that facilitates cross-border and cross-sector collaboration for sharing information.

2. Who can share information under AMLR Article 75?
Financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, and non-financial businesses like lawyers and real estate agents can all participate.

3. What types of data can be shared under AMLR Article 75?
Information such as customer transactions, due diligence data, suspicious activity reports (SARs), and personal data related to high-risk customers can be shared.

4. How does AMLR Article 75 improve cross-border cooperation?
AMLR Article 75 enables real-time data sharing between different jurisdictions, breaking down barriers to cooperation between countries and sectors.