AML Training in Ireland: What Section 54 of the 2010 Act Requires

Irish firms that are subject to anti-money laundering (AML) law must train their people, and the duty sits in section 54 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010. This guide summarises section 54 as it appears in the revised Act on the Law Reform Commission website. It is general information and not legal advice. For related material, see our guides to AML training and reporting standards and AML CPD for accountants.

The duty to adopt policies and procedures

Section 54(1) says a designated person must adopt internal policies, controls and procedures to prevent and detect money laundering and terrorist financing. These must cover the people involved in carrying out the designated person’s obligations under Part 4 of the Act. Section 54(3) lists topics the policies must address:

• identifying, assessing, mitigating and managing risk
• customer due diligence and monitoring of transactions and business relationships
• scrutiny of complex, large or unusual transactions
• products and transactions that favour anonymity
• risks from new technologies and practices
• reporting, including suspicious transactions
• record keeping
• keeping customer documents and risk assessment documents up to date
• systems to identify emerging risks and keep business-wide risk assessments current
• monitoring compliance and internal communication of the policies

Senior management must approve the policies, and they must be kept under review, particularly when the business or its risk profile changes. The designated person must have regard to guidance issued by its competent authority.

The training duty

Section 54(6) says persons involved in the business must be instructed on the law relating to money laundering and terrorist financing, and given ongoing training on how to spot transactions or activity that may be related to those offences and how to proceed once one is identified. Section 54(10) says persons involved include directors, other officers and employees. The text we read does not say how often training must be given, how long it must last, or what format it must take, and it lists no content beyond the topics above.

Internal reporting channel

Section 54(6A) requires appropriate procedures that let employees, or those in a comparable position, report contraventions internally through a specific, independent and anonymous channel, proportionate to the designated person’s nature and size. Our guide to protected disclosures for employers covers a related regime, but the two are separate.

Duties that apply only if directed

Duties relating to a compliance officer, a senior management lead for AML, and independent external audit apply only if the competent authority directs in writing. The authority may give such a direction only if satisfied it is appropriate given the designated person’s size and nature, and may direct a class of designated persons. The text says subsections (6), (6A), (7), (8) and (9) do not apply to an individual who is a sole practitioner, and that section 54(11) exempts designated persons who are employees of another designated person.

Offence

Failure to comply with section 54 is an offence. According to the text, on summary conviction the penalty is a class A fine, imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both, and on conviction on indictment it is a fine, imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both. The text does not give the amount of a class A fine, so we do not state one.

Our suggestions

These are our own practical suggestions, not guidance from a competent authority. Keep a training register for every director, officer and employee that records who was trained, when, and on what topic. Tie the training content to the topics in section 54(3), so staff understand the firm’s own policies as well as the law. Set a review date for the policies and put it in the diary, and record who in senior management approved them. Check your competent authority’s guidance for anything on frequency or content, since the Act itself is silent on both.

What the sources do not say

The revised text does not state a single “revised as at” date. The annotations show amendments taking effect in 2013, 2018 and 2019, and we have not checked for later changes. We have not read the Central Bank of Ireland’s guidelines on AML training, because the training section of that document was not in the text we could access. The Act does not define senior management or say who qualifies as a compliance officer beyond being at management level.

Frequently asked questions

Who must be trained under section 54?

The Act says persons involved in the business, which includes directors, other officers and employees.

How often must AML training be given?

The text we read does not say. It requires ongoing training, but gives no frequency.

Is failing to train staff an offence?

Failure to comply with section 54 is an offence, with penalties set out in section 54(15).

Does every firm need a compliance officer?

Only if the competent authority directs it in writing, according to the text we read.

Next steps

Learnsignal’s offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.