# AMLR Art. 48 — Reliance on third parties - **Part of:** [[AMLR]] - **FATF keying:** [[FATF R.17 - Reliance on third parties|FATF R.17]] - **Swiss provisions:** [[GwV-FINMA Art. 28 - Conditions for third-party engagement|GwV-FINMA Art. 28]] - **Detailed citation:** GwV-FINMA Art. 28 ## What it requires Obliged entities may rely on another obliged entity, EU-based or third-country, for the customer due diligence measures in Art. 20(1)(a)-(c) (identifying the customer and beneficial owners, understanding the purpose of the relationship), if the relied-upon entity applies equivalent due diligence and record-keeping standards and is supervised consistently with the AMLD; ultimate responsibility stays with the relying entity (para. 1). Third-country reliance must weigh Annex II/III risk factors (para. 2). Group-wide policies may satisfy reliance under defined conditions (para. 3); reliance on entities in listed high-risk third countries is barred, except that EU entities may rely on their own branches and subsidiaries there if the para. 3 conditions are met (para. 4). ## Swiss position GwV-FINMA Art. 28 lets a financial intermediary delegate identification of the contracting party, establishment of the controlling person or beneficial owner, and the additional clarification duties to a third person or company: by written agreement, subject to careful selection, instruction and the ability to monitor compliance (Abs. 1); without a written agreement where the delegate is a group entity applying an equivalent standard, or another financial intermediary under equivalent AML/CFT supervision and regulation that has taken measures to meet the duties equivalently (Abs. 2); sub-delegation by the delegate is barred (Abs. 3), subject to Art. 12 Abs. 1 delegation agreements where the sub-delegate is itself a Swiss-licensed intermediary (Abs. 4). GwV-FINMA Art. 29 keeps the delegating intermediary supervisorily responsible throughout, requires it to retain copies of the underlying documents with written confirmation they match the originals, and requires it to assess the plausibility of additional clarifications itself. ## Key divergences GwV-FINMA Art. 28-29 regulate one undifferentiated concept of delegating due-diligence tasks ('Beizug'), covering both what the AMLR separates into third-party reliance (Art. 48-49, FATF R.17) and outsourcing (AMLR Art. 18, R.18) - the same conflation flagged at those nodes. Within that single concept, Art. 28 Abs. 1's written-agreement/selection/instruction/monitoring regime and Abs. 2's equivalence-based exemptions map loosely onto AMLR Art. 48(1)'s equivalence-and-supervision conditions, and Art. 29 Abs. 1's continuing supervisory responsibility corresponds to Art. 48(1)'s 'ultimate responsibility' rule. But GwV-FINMA Art. 28 has no counterpart to AMLR Art. 48(2)'s mandatory weighing of Annex II/III geographic risk factors, no explicit group-wide-policy mechanism comparable to Art. 48(3), and no rule barring reliance on entities in listed high-risk third countries comparable to Art. 48(4) - beyond the general 'gleichwertige Aufsicht' equivalence test in Abs. 2 Bst. b. Because reliance and outsourcing are not separated on the Swiss side, a reader cannot isolate from GwV-FINMA a pure-reliance provision the way AMLR isolates Art. 48 from Art. 18. ## Further connections *These links come from an article-by-article comparison of the primary texts. They add to the provisions listed at the top of this note and make no equivalence claim.* - [[VSB 20 Art. 43 - Delegation of identification duties|VSB 20 Art. 43]] — Bank delegation rule: written agreement, instruction of the delegate and ability to check its work (Abs. 1); no writing needed within a group or for a financial intermediary under adequate prudential supervision and AML regulation (Abs. 4); sub-delegation barred (Abs. 3). Delegation and reliance are not separated, and there is no express "ultimate responsibility" sentence. *(related)* - [[VSB 20 Art. 19 - Identification within the group|VSB 20 Art. 19]] — Group-internal reuse of an identification already performed at an equivalent standard; group units must hold copies of the original identification files. No group-level supervision condition as in Art. 48(3)(c). *(related)* ## Authoritative text > [!quote]- Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR), Article 48 — English text (EUR-Lex, CELEX 32024R1624) > **Article 48** > *General provisions relating to reliance on other obliged entities* > 1. Obliged entities may rely on other obliged entities, whether located in a Member State or in a third country, to meet the customer due diligence requirements laid down in Article 20(1), points (a), (b) and (c), provided that: > (a) the other obliged entities apply customer due diligence requirements and record-keeping requirements laid down in this Regulation, or equivalent when the other obliged entities reside or are established in a third country; > (b) compliance with AML/CFT requirements by the other obliged entities is supervised in a manner consistent with Chapter IV of Directive (EU) 2024/1640. > The ultimate responsibility for meeting the customer due diligence requirements shall remain with the obliged entity which relies on another obliged entity. > 2. When deciding to rely on other obliged entities located in third countries, obliged entities shall take into consideration the geographical risk factors listed in Annexes II and III and any relevant information or guidance provided by the Commission, or by AMLA or other competent authorities. > 3. In the case of obliged entities that are part of a group, compliance with the requirements of this Article and of Article 49 may be ensured through group-wide policies, procedures and controls provided that all the following conditions are met: > (a) the obliged entity relies on information provided solely by an obliged entity that is part of the same group; > (b) the group applies AML/CFT policies and procedures, customer due diligence measures and rules on record-keeping that are fully in compliance with this Regulation, or with equivalent rules in third countries; > (c) the effective implementation of the requirements referred to in point (b) of this paragraph is supervised at group level by the supervisory authority of the home Member State in accordance with Chapter IV of Directive (EU) 2024/1640 or of the third country in accordance with the rules of that third country. > 4. Obliged entities shall not rely on obliged entities established in third countries identified pursuant to Section 2 of this Chapter. However, obliged entities established in the Union whose branches and subsidiaries are established in those third countries may rely on those branches and subsidiaries, where all the conditions laid down in paragraph 3, are met. ## Sources - AMLR Art. 48 — CELEX 32024R1624 - GwV-FINMA SR 955.033.0, Art. 28 - GwV-FINMA SR 955.033.0, Art. 29