The Guidelines specify the "content of the redemption plan to be developed by issuers of ARTs and EMTs in going concern, including the liquidation strategies of the reserve of assets, the mapping of critical activities, the content of the redemption claims, the main steps of the redemption process, and the elements that may lead to the trigger of the plan by the competent authority."

The Guidelines specify which information should accompany a transfer of funds or cryptoassets and also list the steps that payment service providers, intermediary payment service providers, cryptoasset service providers and intermediary cryptoasset service providers should take to detect missing or incomplete information, and what they should do if a transfer of funds or a transfer of cryptoassets lacks the required information.

The objective is to "establish a consistent and effective approach to implementing the travel rule across the EU that allows relevant authorities to fully trace such transfers where this is necessary to prevent, detect or investigate money laundering and terrorist financing."

According to the EBA, the new guidelines "set clear expectations of the steps supervisors should take to identify and manage money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) risks in this sector and are an important step forward in the EU’s fight against financial crime."

The amendments include guidance on the sources of information competent authorities should consider when assessing ML/TF risks associated with CASPs. They highlight the importance of a "consistent approach in setting supervisory expectations, where multiple competent authorities are responsible for the supervision of the same institutions. They also emphasise the importance of training so that staff from competent authorities have the technical skills and expertise necessary to carry out their roles."

The EBA will issue AML/CFT guidance for CASPs through forthcoming amendments to the EBA’s ML/TF Risk Factors Guidelines, and new Guidelines to prevent the abuse of fund and cryptoasset transfers for ML/TF purposes.

These ‘travel rule’ Guidelines specify the steps that Payment Service Providers (PSPs), Intermediary PSPs (IPSPs), cryptoasset service providers (CASPs) and Intermediary CASPs (ICASPs) should take to detect missing or incomplete information that accompanies a transfer of funds or cryptoassets.

They also detail the procedures these providers should put in place to manage a transfer of funds or a transfer of cryptoassets that lacks the required information.

Deadline for comments is 26 February 2024.

According to the press release, the EBA will focus on:

i) implementing the EU banking package (Capital Requirements Regulation - CRR III / Capital Requirements Directive - CRD VI); 

ii) monitoring financial stability and sustainability; 

iii) providing a data infrastructure at the service of stakeholders;

iv) developing oversight and supervisory capacity for the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA); and

v) increasing attention on innovation and consumers (including access to financial services) while preparing the transition to the new anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework. 

The Opinion is issued against the background of a changed risk landscape, which has an impact on institutions’ AML/CFT compliance and competent authorities’ approaches to supervision. Examples include geopolitical events such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and legislative developments like  the publication of a comprehensive ‘AML Package’ and the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). They also include emerging risks such as corruption, and the laundering of proceeds from both environmental crime and cybercrime.

The EBA aims to "regulate access to the EU market of ARTs by applicant issuers and persons intending to exercise significant influence on these undertakings via the acquisition of qualifying holdings."

Deadline for comments is 12 October 2023. 

The EBA is proposing to set common, regulatory expectations of the steps CASPs should take to identify and mitigate risks effectively.

The amendments introduce new sector-specific guidance for CASPs, which highlights factors that may indicate the CASP’s exposure to the higher or lower ML/TF risk. CASPs should consider these factors when carrying out the ML/TF risk assessments of their business and customers at the outset and during the business relationship. 

The Guidelines also explain how they should adjust their customer due diligence in line with those risks. 

The amendments include guidance to other credit and financial institutions on risks to consider when engaging in a business relationship with a CASP or when they are otherwise exposed to cryptoassets.

Deadline for comments is 31 August 2023.