Workshop „Nuovi scenari AML – La Banca d’Italia incontra il mercato“

The Bank of Italy reported on the outcomes of the workshop „New AML Scenarios – The Bank of Italy Meets the Market.“ Representatives from the Bank of Italy, Financial Intelligence Unit, and financial industry gathered to discuss the challenges posed by developments in Anti-Money Laundering policies, risks, and supervision.
The discussions were based on the evolution of the AML regulatory framework and institutional convergence in methodologies and supervision practices, which is driven by the European Banking Authority’s activities and the negotiations on the AML package, introducing a single rulebook and a new European authority called the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA).
P. Angelini (BI) emphasized the need for all players to accelerate the process of change due to the increasing severity of money laundering.
Szego (BI) discusses the increasing importance of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and their impact on the financial industry. The use of illicit funds can affect the allocation of resources, harm businesses, and threaten the stability of financial intermediaries. In Italy, illegal activities make up around 1% of GDP, but this can vary greatly and reach even up to 12 %. Emerging risk factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the push towards digitalisation of the economy and financial services, are affecting the level of criminal infiltration in the economy and the risk of money laundering. The rise of digital financial services also poses new challenges for AML efforts, particularly with the use of crypto-assets to obscure the origin of funds. The article highlights the need for greater cooperation and convergence in AML regulations across Europe, including the potential establishment of a European AML authority.
The Bank of Italy’s Strategic Plan for 2023-2025 (eventid=20216) specifically focuses on combating illegality in the financial sector through a series of action lines. The plan highlights the importance of financial intermediaries paying particular attention to the adequacy of their governance and control systems, the proper application of a risk-based approach, and the prompt identification of traditional and emerging money laundering risks.
The workshop discusses how factors such as geopolitical uncertainty, macroeconomic framework, and digital revolution increase the intensity, variety, and difficulty of intercepting money laundering risks for intermediaries. The latest Supranational Risk Assessment by the European Commission confirms this scenario. Intermediaries must understand, evaluate, and manage both traditional and emerging risks. The workshop emphasised the usefulness of self-assessment as an essential tool for intermediaries to identify, evaluate, and manage risks and opportunities for improvement, as well as the de-risking phenomenon, where intermediaries abstain from relationships with entire categories of clients due to high perceived risks, to find ways to balance the containment of money laundering risks and the need to avoid financial exclusion.