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Report on the application of AML/CTF obligations to, and the AML/CTF supervision of e-money issuers, agents and distributors in Europe

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Peter Howitt (Ramparts)

Dear European Banking Authority (EBA),

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:

Either:

1) All responses from European regulators on the applicability and interpretation of the anti-money laundering regime to e-money issuers, their agents and distributors that enabled you to prepare the report titled: "Report
on the application of AML/CTF obligations to, and the AML/CTF supervision of
e-money issuers, agents and distributors in Europe (JC 2012 086 Dec 2012 Report)". Preferably in English.

OR (failing that)

2) Re-issue of the Report with specific references to each relevant territory for each point (e.g., as per the 2009 Commission Paper, see example page 5: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/comp...)

Your Report summarises the applicable national interpretations of the PSD and 2EMD regarding their inter-action with AML requirements and interpretation. However, the report does not reference which member states are being referred to for which elements. It would be extremely helpful to the the e-money and payments sectors if you could publish the underlying data collected for your paper or, if not possible, at least re-issue your paper with detailed footnotes.

At the moment e-money operators and advisors have no central repository to obtain the information you already have to hand and that could be easily disseminated to assist people to carry out e-money business on a cross-border basis.

Yours faithfully,
Peter
Peter Howitt
Ramparts Law

European Banking Authority

Dear Mr Howitt,

Thank you for your communication. The document in question is a very long document, and therefore we would like to inform you that we are invoking Article 7 (3) of Regulation (EU) 1049/2001 and thereby extend the time limit for another 15 working days.

Yours faithfully,

European Banking Authority

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European Banking Authority

Dear Mr Howitt,

We are writing with reference to your request below.

We regret to inform you that we are not in a position to provide you the documentation you have requested. This is based on, inter alia:

Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 1049/2001 "Access to a document, drawn up by an institution for internal use or received by an institution, which relates to a matter where the decision has not been taken by the institution, shall be refused if disclosure of the document would seriously undermine the institution's decision-making process, unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure."

The documentation you request was received by the EBA and related to decisions not taken by the EBA. Additionally, the disclosure of such information would seriously undermine the institution’s decision making process within its structures, and we do not deem there to be an overriding public interest in disclosure.

Furthermore, pursuant to Article 4(5) of Regulation (EU) 1049/2001, the EBA does not have the agreement from all Members to disclose this documentation.

You may, within 15 working days of receiving this email, make a confirmatory application to us asking us to reconsider our position not to disclose this documentation.

Yours faithfully,

European Banking Authority

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Peter Howitt (Ramparts)

Dear European Banking Authority (EBA),

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of European Banking Authority (EBA)'s handling of my FOI request 'Report on the application of AML/CTF obligations to, and the AML/CTF supervision of e-money issuers, agents and distributors in Europe'.

The reason for the request is that as the EBA is aware, and as is suitably demonstrated in the EBA 2012 Report), the current approach by Member States to AML in this new area of payments law is discouraging the effective application of both the Payment Services Directive and, particularly, the 2nd E-money Directive (the purpose of which was to encourage the sector across Europe after the limited take-up following the 1st E-Money Directive).

It is discouraging that the EBA (one of the new supra-national authorities for AML purposes) is refusing to disclose basic high level information on the AML law and practice in this sector relying upon the legal grounds specified.

I would be grateful for an explanation of how a refusal to disclose such information (even if not the underlying data) helps the EBA and the Member States achieve any of the following objectives specified in the draft 4th AMLD:
- to reduce cross-border complexity
- to safeguard Europe from criminality and terrorism
- to safeguard economic prosperity of EU by ensuring efficient business environment
- to contribute to financial stability and soundness of the financial system
- to ensure consistency of national rules
- facilitation of cross-border information sharing and standards

As per my request, a solution was offered that would avoid the EBA in disclosing information for which it might not be authorised (no response was received to this proposed solution):
"2) Re-issue of the Report with specific references to each relevant
territory for each point (e.g., as per the 2009 Commission Paper,
see example page 5:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/comp...) "

It would appear that since the above referenced 2009 Commission Paper regarding the Banking Sector the position with respect to sharing and publicising useful, relevant and non-confidential country specific AML information may have worsened rather than improved.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.asktheeu.org/request/report_o...

Yours faithfully,

Peter Howitt
(Ramparts)

Mail Delivery System,

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

[EBA request email]
SMTP error from remote mail server after initial connection:
host mail2.eba.europa.eu [84.14.207.42]: 554-mail2.eba.europa.eu
554 Your access to this mail system has been rejected due to the sending MTA's poor reputation. If you believe that this failure is in error, please contact the intended recipient via alternate means.

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Peter Howitt (Ramparts)

Dear European Banking Authority (EBA),

Please advise whether you are processing my Freedom of Information Review request above. The servers provided the following inexplicable error (above):

"This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

[EBA request email]
SMTP error from remote mail server after initial connection:
host mail2.eba.europa.eu [84.14.207.42]: 554-mail2.eba.europa.eu
554 Your access to this mail system has been rejected due to the sending MTA's poor reputation. If you believe that this failure is in error, please contact the intended recipient via alternate means."

Please also note that the FOI system does not notify me when a response is provided by you and this means I must check the site every day. It would be very easy for myself or other FOI applicants to miss a deadline for review due to system errors. Please therefore also email us once you respond to the above request for review of the refusal.

Yours faithfully,

Ramparts Law

Mail Delivery System,

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

[EBA request email]
SMTP error from remote mail server after initial connection:
host mail1.eba.europa.eu [80.118.162.106]: 554-mail1.eba.europa.eu
554 Your access to this mail system has been rejected due to the sending MTA's poor reputation. If you believe that this failure is in error, please contact the intended recipient via alternate means.

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Sent a follow up to European Banking Authority again.

Sent request to European Banking Authority again.

Mail Delivery System,

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent has not yet been delivered to one or more of its
recipients after more than 24 hours on the queue on Sam.access-info.org.

The message identifier is: 1VOkSA-0003OZ-Ko
The date of the message is: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 08:28:10 +0000
The subject of the message is: access to information request - Report on the application of AML/CTF
obligations to, and the AML/CTF supervision of e-money issuers, agents and
distributors in Europe

The address to which the message has not yet been delivered is:

[EBA request email]

No action is required on your part. Delivery attempts will continue for
some time, and this warning may be repeated at intervals if the message
remains undelivered. Eventually the mail delivery software will give up,
and when that happens, the message will be returned to you.

Mail Delivery System,

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent has not yet been delivered to one or more of its
recipients after more than 48 hours on the queue on Sam.access-info.org.

The message identifier is: 1VOkSA-0003OZ-Ko
The date of the message is: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 08:28:10 +0000
The subject of the message is: access to information request - Report on the application of AML/CTF
obligations to, and the AML/CTF supervision of e-money issuers, agents and
distributors in Europe

The address to which the message has not yet been delivered is:

[EBA request email]

No action is required on your part. Delivery attempts will continue for
some time, and this warning may be repeated at intervals if the message
remains undelivered. Eventually the mail delivery software will give up,
and when that happens, the message will be returned to you.

Mail Delivery System,

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent has not yet been delivered to one or more of its
recipients after more than 72 hours on the queue on Sam.access-info.org.

The message identifier is: 1VOkSA-0003OZ-Ko
The date of the message is: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 08:28:10 +0000
The subject of the message is: access to information request - Report on the application of AML/CTF
obligations to, and the AML/CTF supervision of e-money issuers, agents and
distributors in Europe

The address to which the message has not yet been delivered is:

[EBA request email]

No action is required on your part. Delivery attempts will continue for
some time, and this warning may be repeated at intervals if the message
remains undelivered. Eventually the mail delivery software will give up,
and when that happens, the message will be returned to you.

Mail Delivery System,

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

[EBA request email]
retry timeout exceeded

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