28th April 2022

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) would like to bring to your attention the fact that the European Banking Authority (EBA) has just published a statement on financial inclusion in the context of the invasion of Ukraine.

The purpose of the statement is to ensure that both financial institutions and supervisors make every effort to provide access for Ukrainian refugees to at least, basic financial products and services. In fact, the provision of financial services to refugees will help in reducing the risks of human trafficking and exploitation to which all refugees are vulnerable.

In the statement, the EBA sets out how the existing EBA`s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) guidelines apply in the current context, and how financial institutions can adapt their AML/CFT measures to provide a pragmatic and proportionate response to the compliance challenges they face.

This statement welcomes the commitment by financial institutions to implement the EU’s sanctions regime, while calling on them to ensure that compliance with the EU’s restrictive measures regime does not lead to unwarranted de-risking.

This Guidance Note can be found on the EBA website or by accessing the following link.