rec_44

(44) The revised FATF Recommendations demonstrate that, in order to be able to cooperate fully and comply swiftly with information requests from competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, detection or investigation of money laundering and terrorist financing, obliged entities should maintain, for at least five years, the necessary information obtained through customer due diligence measures and the records on transactions. In order to avoid different approaches and in order to fulfil the requirements relating to the protection of personal data and legal certainty, that retention period should be fixed at five years after the end of a business relationship or of an occasional transaction. However, if necessary for the purposes of prevention, detection or investigation of money laundering and terrorist financing, and after carrying out an assessment of the necessity and proportionality, Member States should be able to allow or require the further retention of records for a period not exceeding an additional five years, without prejudice to the national criminal law on evidence applicable to ongoing criminal investigations and legal proceedings. Member States should require that specific safeguards be put in place to ensure the security of data and should determine which persons, categories of persons or authorities should have exclusive access to the data retained.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.