Requests for information by competent authorities to an FIU
1. Subject to national procedural safeguards, each Member State shall ensure that its national FIU is required to cooperate with its designated competent authorities referred to in Article 3(2) and to be able to reply, in a timely manner, to reasoned requests for financial information or financial analysis by those designated competent authorities in their respective Member State, where that financial information or financial analysis is necessary on a case-by-case basis and where the request is motivated by concerns relating to the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of serious criminal offences.
2. Where there are objective grounds for assuming that the provision of such information would have a negative impact on ongoing investigations or analyses, or, in exceptional circumstances, where disclosure of the information would be clearly disproportionate to the legitimate interests of a natural or legal person or irrelevant with regard to the purposes for which it has been requested, the FIU shall be under no obligation to comply with the request for information.
3. Any use for purposes beyond those originally approved shall be made subject to the prior consent of that FIU. FIUs shall appropriately explain any refusal to reply to a request made under paragraph 1.
4. The decision on conducting the dissemination of information shall remain with the FIU.
5. The designated competent authorities may process the financial information and financial analysis received from the FIU for the specific purposes of preventing, detecting, investigating or prosecuting serious criminal offences other than the purposes for which personal data are collected in accordance with Article 4(2) of Directive (EU) 2016/680.
Requests of information by an FIU to competent authorities
Subject to national procedural safeguards and in addition to the access to information by FIUs as provided for in Article 32(4) of Directive (EU) 2015/849, each Member State shall ensure that its designated competent authorities are required to reply in a timely manner to requests for law enforcement information made by the national FIU on a case-by-case basis, where the information is necessary for the prevention, detection and combating of money laundering, associate predicate offences and terrorist financing.
Exchange of information between FIUs of different Member States
1. Member States shall ensure that in exceptional and urgent cases, their FIUs are entitled to exchange financial information or financial analysis that may be relevant for the processing or analysis of information related to terrorism or organised crime associated with terrorism.
2. Member States shall ensure that in the cases referred to in paragraph 1 and subject to their operational limitations, FIUs endeavour to exchange such information promptly.
Exchange of information between competent authorities of different Member States
1. Subject to national procedural safeguards, each Member State shall ensure that its competent authorities designated pursuant to Article 3(2) are able to exchange financial information or financial analysis obtained from the FIU of their Member State, upon request and on a case-by-case basis, with a designated competent authority in another Member State, where that financial information or financial analysis is necessary for the prevention, detection and combating of money laundering, associate predicate offences and terrorist financing.
Each Member State shall ensure that its designated competent authorities use the financial information or financial analysis exchanged pursuant to this Article only for the purpose for which it was sought or provided.
Each Member State shall ensure that any dissemination of financial information or financial analysis obtained by its designated competent authorities from the FIU of that Member State to any other authority, agency or department or any use of that information for purposes other than those originally approved is made subject to the prior consent of the FIU providing the information.
2. Member States shall ensure that a request made pursuant to this Article and its response are transmitted using dedicated secure electronic communications ensuring a high level of data security.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
