Chapter VII, Article 77 · Regulation (EU) 2024/1624

Contents

Article 77Record retention#

1.Obliged entities shall retain the following documents and information:

(a)a copy of the documents and information obtained in the performance of customer due diligence pursuant to Chapter III, including information obtained through electronic identification means;

(b)a record of the assessment undertaken pursuant to Article 69(2), including the information and circumstances considered and the results of such assessment, whether or not such assessment results in a suspicious transaction report being made to the FIU, and a copy of the suspicion transaction report, if any;

(c)the supporting evidence and records of transactions, consisting of the original documents or copies admissible in judicial proceedings under the applicable national law, which are necessary to identify transactions;

(d)when they participate in partnerships for information sharing pursuant to Chapter VI, copies of the documents and information obtained in the framework of those partnerships, and records of all instances of information sharing.

Obliged entities shall ensure that documents, information and records kept pursuant to this Article are not redacted.

2.By way of derogation from paragraph 1, obliged entities may decide to replace the retention of copies of the information by a retention of the references to such information, provided that the nature and method of retention of such information ensure that the obliged entities can provide immediately to competent authorities the information and that the information cannot be modified or altered.Obliged entities making use of the derogation referred to in the first subparagraph shall define in their internal procedures drawn up pursuant to Article 9, the categories of information for which they will retain a reference instead of a copy or original, as well as the procedures for retrieving the information so that it can be provided to competent authorities upon request.

3.The information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be retained for a period of 5 years commencing on the date of the termination of the business relationship or on the date of the carrying out of the occasional transaction, or on the date of refusal to enter into a business relationship or carry out an occasional transaction. Without prejudice to retention periods for data collected for the purposes of other Union legal acts or national law complying with Regulation (EU) 2016/679, obliged entities shall delete personal data upon expiry of the five-year period.Competent authorities may require further retention of the information referred to in the first subparagraph on a case-by-case basis, provided that such retention is necessary for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of money laundering or terrorist financing. That further retention period shall not exceed 5 years.

4.Where, on 10 July 2027, legal proceedings concerned with the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of suspected money laundering or terrorist financing are pending in a Member State, and an obliged entity holds information or documents relating to those pending proceedings, the obliged entity may retain that information or those documents for a period of 5 years from 10 July 2027.Member States may, without prejudice to national criminal law on evidence applicable to ongoing criminal investigations and legal proceedings, allow or require the retention of such information or documents for a further period of 5 years where the necessity and proportionality of such further retention have been established for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of suspected money laundering or terrorist financing.

Defined terms · 61

Show every defined term

an ownership interest in the corporate entity
shall mean direct or indirect ownership of 25 % or more of the shares or voting rights or other ownership interest in the corporate entity, including rights to a share of profits, other internal resources or liquidation balance.
anonymity-enhancing coins
means crypto-assets that have built-in features designed to make crypto-asset transfer information anonymous, either systematically or optionally;
basic information
means:
beneficial owner
means any natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity or an express trust or similar legal arrangement;
business relationship
means a business, professional or commercial relationship connected with the professional activities of an obliged entity, which is set up between an obliged entity and a customer, including in the absence of a written contract and which is expected to have, at the time when the contact is established, or which subsequently acquires, an element of repetition or duration;
cash
means cash as defined in Article 2(1), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2018/1672 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
competent authority
means:
control of the legal entity
means the possibility to exercise, directly or indirectly, significant influence and impose relevant decisions within the legal entity;
control through ownership interest of the corporate entity
means direct or indirect ownership of 50 % plus one of the shares or voting rights or other ownership interest in the corporate entity.
correspondent relationship
means:
credit institution
means:
criminal activity
means criminal activity as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2018/1673, as well as fraud affecting the Union’s financial interests as defined in Article 3(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371, passive and active corruption as defined in Article 4 (2) and misappropriation as defined in Article 4(3), second subparagraph, of that Directive;
crowdfunding intermediary
means an undertaking other than a crowdfunding service provider the business of which is to match or facilitate the matching, through an internet-based information system open to the public or to a limited number of funders, of:
crowdfunding service provider
means a crowdfunding service provider as defined in Article 2(1), point (e), of Regulation (EU) 2020/1503;
crypto-asset
means a crypto-asset as defined in Article 3(1), point (5), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 except when falling under the categories listed in Article 2(4) of that Regulation;
crypto-asset account
means a crypto-asset account as defined in Article 3, point (19), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1113;
crypto-asset service provider
means a crypto-asset service provider as defined in Article 3(1), point (15), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 where performing one or more crypto-asset services;
crypto-asset services
means crypto-asset services as defined in Article 3(1), point (16), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, with the exception of providing advice on crypto-assets as referred to in Article 3(1), point (16)(h), of that Regulation;
cultural goods
means goods listed in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 116/2009;
default taker
means the natural or legal persons or class of natural or legal persons who are the beneficiaries of a discretionary trust should the trustees fail to exercise their discretion;
electronic money
means electronic money as defined in Article 2, point (2), of Directive 2009/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, but excluding monetary value as referred to in Article 1(4) and (5) of that Directive;
establishment
means the actual pursuit by an obliged entity of an economic activity covered by Article 3 in a Member State or third country other than the country where its head office is located for an indefinite period and through a stable infrastructure, including:
express trust
means a trust intentionally set up by the settlor, inter vivos or on death, usually in a form of written document, to place assets under the control of a trustee for the benefit of a beneficiary or for a specified purpose;
family member
means:
financial institution
means:
financial mixed activity holding company
means an undertaking, other than a financial holding company or a mixed financial holding company, which is not the subsidiary of another undertaking, the subsidiaries of which include at least one credit institution or financial institution;
football agent
means a natural or legal person who, for a fee, provides intermediary services and represents football players or professional football clubs in negotiations with a view to concluding a contract for a football player or represents professional football clubs in negotiations with a view to concluding an agreement for the transfer of a football player;
formal nominee arrangement
means a contract or an equivalent arrangement, between a nominator and a nominee, where the nominator is a legal entity or natural person that issues instructions to a nominee to act on their behalf in a certain capacity, including as a director or shareholder or settlor, and the nominee is a legal entity or natural person instructed by the nominator to act on their behalf.
funds or other assets
means any assets, including, but not limited to, financial assets, economic resources, including oil and other natural resources, property of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, however acquired, and legal documents or instruments in any form, including electronic or digital, evidencing title to, or interest in, such funds or other assets, including, but not limited to, bank credits, travellers cheques, bank cheques, money orders, shares, securities, bonds, drafts, or letters of credit, and any interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by such funds or other assets, and any other assets which potentially may be used to obtain funds, goods or services;
gambling service
means a service which involves wagering a stake with monetary value in games of chance, including those with an element of skill, such as lotteries, casino games, poker games and betting transactions that are provided at a physical location, or by any means at a distance, by electronic means or any other technology for facilitating communication, and at the individual request of a recipient of services;
group
means a group of undertakings which consists of a parent undertaking, its subsidiaries, as well as undertakings linked to each other by a relationship within the meaning of Article 22 of Directive 2013/34/EU;
high-value goods
means goods listed in Annex IV;
indirect control of a legal entity
means control of intermediate legal entities in the ownership structure or in various chains of the ownership structure, where the direct control is identified on each level of the structure;
legal arrangement
means an express trust or an arrangement which has a similar structure or function to an express trust, including fiducie and certain types of Treuhand and fideicomiso;
Legal Entity Identifier
means a unique alphanumeric reference code based on the ISO 17442 standard assigned to a legal entity;
linked transactions
means two or more transactions with either identical or similar origin, destination and purpose, or other relevant characteristics, over a specific period;
management body
means an obliged entity’s body or bodies, which are appointed in accordance with national law, which are empowered to set the obliged entity’s strategy, objectives and overall direction, and which oversee and monitor management decision-making, and include the persons who effectively direct the business of the obliged entity;
management body in its management function
means the management body responsible for the day-to-day management of the obliged entity;
management body in its supervisory function
means the management body acting in its role of overseeing and monitoring management decision-making;
money laundering
means the conduct set out in Article 3, paragraphs 1 and 5, of Directive (EU) 2018/1673 including aiding and abetting, inciting and attempting to commit that conduct, whether the activities which generated the property to be laundered were carried out on the territory of a Member State or on that of a third country;
non-financial mixed activity holding company
means an undertaking, other than a financial holding company or a mixed financial holding company, which is not the subsidiary of another undertaking, the subsidiaries of which include at least one obliged entity as referred to in Article 3, point (3);
objects of a power
means the natural or legal persons or class of natural or legal persons among whom trustees may select the beneficiaries in a discretionary trust;
parent undertaking
means:
partnership for information sharing
means a mechanism that enables the sharing and processing of information between obliged entities and, where applicable, competent authorities referred to in point 44(a), (b) and (c), for the purposes of preventing and combating money laundering, its predicate offences and terrorist financing, whether at national level or on a cross-border basis, and regardless of the form of that partnership.
person known to be a close associate
means:
politically exposed person
means a natural person who is or has been entrusted with prominent public functions including:
precious metals and stones
means metals and stones listed in Annex V;
professional football club
means any legal person that is, owns or manages a football club that has been granted a licence and participates in the national football leagues in a Member State and whose players and staff are contractually engaged and are remunerated in exchange for their services;
property
means property as defined in Article 2, point (2), of Directive (EU) 2018/1673;
self-hosted address
means a self-hosted address as defined in Article 3, point (20), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1113;
self-regulatory body
means a body that represents members of a profession and has a role in regulating them, in performing certain supervisory or monitoring functions and in ensuring the enforcement of the rules relating to them;
senior management
means the members of the management body in its management function, as well as officers and employees with sufficient knowledge of the obliged entity’s money laundering and terrorist financing risk exposure and sufficient seniority to take decisions affecting its risk exposure;
senior managing officials
means the natural persons who are the executive members of the management body, as well as the natural persons who exercise executive functions within a legal entity and are responsible, and accountable to the management body, for the day-to-day management of the entity.
shell institution
means:
supervisor
means the body entrusted with responsibilities aimed at ensuring compliance by obliged entities with the requirements of this Regulation, including AMLA when performing the tasks entrusted to it in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1620;
supervisory authority
means a supervisor who is a public body, or the public authority overseeing self-regulatory bodies in their performance of supervisory functions pursuant to Article 37 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640, or AMLA when acting as a supervisor;
targeted financial sanctions
means both asset freezing and prohibitions to make funds or other assets available, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of designated persons and entities pursuant to Council Decisions adopted on the basis of Article 29 TEU and Council Regulations adopted on the basis of Article 215 TFEU;
terrorist financing
means the conduct set out in Article 11 of Directive (EU) 2017/541 including aiding and abetting, inciting and attempting to commit that conduct, whether carried out on the territory of a Member State or on that of a third country;
third country
means any jurisdiction, independent state or autonomous territory that is not part of the Union and that has its own AML/CFT legislation or enforcement regime;
trust or company service provider
means any natural or legal person that, by way of its business, provides any of the following services to third parties:
virtual IBAN
means an identifier causing payments to be redirected to a payment account identified by an IBAN different from that identifier;