New Regulations on Wire Transfers
17 August 2023 | Sharon Avis
On 1 September 2023, the EU Legislation (Information Accompanying Transfer of Funds) (Amendment) (Jersey) Regulations 2023, will come into effect. This amendment widens the scope of entities to whom this regulation will be applicable.
Money or value transfer service providers and virtual asset service providers will now be in scope. The amendment does permit a limited exemption in respect of a transfer of virtual assets equivalent to less than EUR 1,000 provided there is not a high risk of money laundering in respect of a transfer of virtual assets.
All supervised persons who have registered as a money or value transfer service provider and/or virtual asset service provider will now need to consider how they implement the requirements of EU Regulation 2015/847. The core requirement of the regulation is that every “wire transfer” (includes transfer of funds/virtual assets) must be accompanied by specific information about the payer and payee. Section 11 of the AML/CFT/CPF Handbook sets out the Codes of Practice and Guidance for adherence with Jersey’s wire transfer regulations. These regulations apply to both outgoing and incoming transfers.
| Outgoing – Transfer for Non-Account Holders | Outgoing – Transfer for Account Holders |
| - Name of payer - A unique transaction identifier (which can trace a transaction back to the payer) - One of either address, official personal document number, customer identification number or date and place of birth - The name of the payer, and - A unique transaction identifier (which can trace a transaction back to the payee) |
- Name of the payer - The payer’s payment account number - One of either the payer’s address, official personal document number, customer identification number or date and place of birth - The name of the payer, and The payee’s payment account number |
Section 11 of the Handbook provides some guidance on the use of batch files.
It may also be worth revisiting the JFSC’s report from their wire transfer thematic examinations E-Thematic-Wire-Transafer-Report — Jersey Financial Services Commission (jerseyfsc.org).
Where receiving incoming transfers, there is a requirement to implement a targeted and proportionate risk-based approach to the monitoring of incoming fund transfer. Policies and procedures should reflect the risk-based approach to be taken considering relevant high risk factors and documenting the following aspects:
- which information relating to transfers of funds has to be recorded, how this information should be recorded, and where it is stored
- which transfers of funds have to be monitored in real time and which transfers of funds can be monitored on an ex-post basis, and why
- the obligations of members of staff where they detect missing or incomplete information and the processes they should follow.
Should you have any queries or wish to discuss how Cyan may be able to assist, please get in touch.