Uncertainties arising from the proposed act on the Financial Information System. An attempt to assess proposed legal regulations in the context of accounts held by banks for other banks

The article is an analysis of the most significant issues related to the proposed act on the Financial Information System, which is currently undergoing legislative work to implement EU law into the Polish legal system, covering regulations aimed at ensuring the prevention of the use of the financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing, as set out in Directive 2018/843. Their objective is to establish centralized, automatic mechanisms (in all European Union Member States), such as registers or a search system, which are meant to enable the collection of relevant information on the identity of the holders of bank and payment accounts as well as safe deposit boxes, their representative holders and ultimate beneficial owners, taking into consideration the need to maintain the full confidentiality of the information obtained. As Member States are to determine the information that is useful and proportionate to collect in order to achieve the objective of minimizing the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing by enabling meaningful identification of ultimate beneficial owners of money transfers, whilst taking into account existing legal systems and practices, the article also attempts to assess the proposed legal regulations in the context of accounts held by banks for other banks.

The article is an analysis of the most significant issues related to the proposed act on the Financial Information System, which is currently undergoing legislative work to implement EU law into the Polish legal system, covering regulations aimed at ensuring the prevention of the use of the financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing, as set out in Directive 2018/843. Their objective is to establish centralized, automatic mechanisms (in all European Union Member States), such as registers or a search system, which are meant to enable the collection of relevant information on the identity of the holders of bank and payment accounts as well as safe deposit boxes, their representative holders and ultimate beneficial owners, taking into consideration the need to maintain the full confidentiality of the information obtained. As Member States are to determine the information that is useful and proportionate to collect in order to achieve the objective of minimizing the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing by enabling meaningful identification of ultimate beneficial owners of money transfers, whilst taking into account existing legal systems and practices, the article also attempts to assess the proposed legal regulations in the context of accounts held by banks for other banks.