6.1 Applications for authorisation of institutions

When assessing an application for authorisation under Articles 10 to 14 of Directive 2013/36/EU²¹ , prudential supervisors should cooperate and exchange information with the relevant AML/CFT supervisor for the purpose of their assessment in accordance with the EBA Guidelines on a common assessment methodology for granting authorisations²² , in particular regarding the assessment of the ML/TF risks related to the proposed application for authorisation.

²¹ In line with the EBA Guidelines on a common assessment methodology for granting authorisation as a credit institution under Article (8)5 of Directive 2013/36/EU (EBA/GL/2021/12). Please also refer to the (final draft) RTS and ITS on Authorisation of credit institutions (EBA-RTS-2017-08 and EBA-ITS-2017-15) on the information to be provided for the authorisation of credit institutions.

²² EBA Guidelines on a common assessment methodology for granting authorisation as a credit institution under Article (8)5 of Directive 2013/36/EU (EBA/GL/2021/12).

The prudential supervisor should share with the AML/CFT supervisor all information provided with or related to the application that is relevant for the AML/CFT supervisor to provide its views on the application for authorisation. Information exchange should also take place where any other data or information with relevance for the AML/CFT supervisor is revealed during the application review.

In addition, in situations where the risk of ML/TF associated with the shareholders, members of the management body or key function holders is increased, the prudential supervisor should also, where appropriate, seek information from the financial intelligence unit to inform their assessment as explained in sections 6.2 and 6.3.

In addition, where the risk of ML/TF associated with the funds used to fulfil the capital requirement at authorisation of a new institution is increased, prudential supervisors should also, where appropriate, seek information from the financial intelligence unit, to inform their assessment. This is particularly relevant in cases where information available raises suspicion about the legitimacy of the origin of the funds used to fulfil the capital requirement at authorisation and the extent to which the funds are potentially connected to or derived from criminal activity.

Where a prudential supervisor decides not to grant the authorisation to an institution on grounds of ML/TF risks, the prudential supervisor should share the relevant decision or parts of the decision with the AML/CFT supervisor in the Member State where the institution was proposed to be established and also with the financial intelligence unit in that Member State.

AML/CFT supervisors

AML/CFT supervisors should, upon request from prudential supervisors, share all relevant information available to them and provide their assessment of the application from an AML/CFT perspective. Where appropriate, AML/CFT supervisors should also seek information from other AML/CFT supervisors and from the financial intelligence unit as part of their assessment of the application, unless such information is already available to the prudential supervisor or has been requested from the financial intelligence unit by the prudential supervisor.

Information requested in the context of an application for authorisation of an institution should be provided without undue delay in view of the short legal timeframe for the assessment of such application by the prudential supervisor.