Administrative and management structure
The Authority’s structure shall comprise:
(a)
a General Board, which shall exercise the tasks set out in Article 60;
(b)
an Executive Board, which shall exercise the tasks set out in Article 64:
(c)
a Chair of the Authority, who shall exercise the tasks set out in Article 69;
(d)
an Executive Director, who shall exercise the tasks set out in Article 71;
(e)
an Administrative Board of Review, which shall exercise the functions listed in Article 74.
SECTION 1 — General board
Composition of the General Board
1. The General Board shall have either the supervisory composition laid down in paragraph 2 or the FIU composition laid down in paragraph 3.
2. The General Board in supervisory composition shall be composed of:
(a)
the Chair of the Authority, with the right to vote;
(b)
the heads of the supervisory authorities of obliged entities in each Member State, with the right to vote;
(c)
one representative of the Commission, without the right to vote.
The heads of the supervisory authorities referred to in the first subparagraph, point (b), in each Member State shall share a single vote and shall agree on a single common representative, which shall be either a permanent representative or an ad hoc voting representative, for the purposes of each specific meeting or voting procedure. Where items to be discussed by the General Board in supervisory composition concern the competence of several supervisory authorities, the single common representative may be accompanied by a representative from up to two other supervisory authorities, without the right to vote.
Each supervisory authority that has a voting member under an ad hoc or permanent agreement shall be responsible for nominating a high-level alternate from its authority, who may replace the voting member of the General Board referred to in the second subparagraph where that person is unable to attend.
3. The General Board in FIU composition shall be composed of:
(a)
the Chair of the Authority, with the right to vote;
(b)
the heads of FIUs, with the right to vote;
(c)
one representative of the Commission, without the right to vote.
Each FIU shall nominate a high-level alternate from its unit, who may replace the head of the FIU referred to in the first subparagraph, point (b), where that person is unable to attend.
4. The General Board may decide to admit observers. In particular, the General Board in FIU composition may admit the representatives of OLAF, Europol, Eurojust and the EPPO as observers to meetings, where matters within the scope of their respective mandates are discussed. The General Board in supervisory composition shall admit a representative nominated by the Supervisory Board of the ECB and a representative of each of the ESAs as observers, where matters within the scope of their respective mandates are discussed.
The circumstances under which the Union institution, bodies, offices and agencies listed in the first subparagraph are to be invited to the meetings of the General Board shall be specified in the rules of procedure of the General Board and reflect an agreement reached between the Authority and each of those observers.
Other observers may be admitted on an ad hoc basis if approved by a two-thirds majority of the voting members of the General Board in the relevant composition.
5. The Executive Board members may participate in the meetings of the General Board, whether in supervisory composition or FIU composition, without the right to vote, where the items covered by their areas of responsibility as determined by the Chair of the Authority and referred to in Article 66(2) are discussed.
Delegation of tasks and decisions, and internal committees of the General Board
1. The General Board, on its own initiative or at the request of the Chair of the Authority, may establish internal committees for specific tasks attributed to it. The General Board may provide for the delegation of certain clearly defined tasks and decisions to internal committees, to the Executive Board or to the Chair of the Authority. The General Board may revoke such delegation at any time.
2. Internal committees shall report to the General Board, for decision, all conclusions reached by them.
3. The Executive Board members may participate in the meetings of internal committees in accordance with Article 57(5).
4. The General Board in FIU composition shall establish a standing committee composed of nine of its members or representatives with adequate expertise from their respective national FIU, to support it in performing its tasks pursuant to Article 60(3), including by submitting proposals and preparing draft decisions.
The standing committee shall have no decision-making powers. It shall execute its tasks in the interest of the Union as a whole and shall work in full transparency with the General Board in FIU composition.
The General Board in FIU composition shall adopt the rules of procedure of the standing committee. The composition of the standing committee shall ensure a fair balance and rotation between the members or representatives of national FIUs. Its nine members shall be appointed by the General Board in FIU composition.
Independence of the General Board
1. When carrying out the tasks conferred upon them by this Regulation, the Chair of the Authority and the members of the General Board in supervisory composition and in FIU composition shall act independently and in the general interest of the Union as a whole and shall neither seek nor take instructions from Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, nor from any government or any other public or private body.
2. Member States, Union institutions, agencies, offices and bodies, and other public or private bodies shall not seek to influence the members of the General Board in the performance of their tasks.
3. In its rules of procedure, the General Board shall lay down practical arrangements for the prevention and management of conflicts of interest.
Tasks of the General Board
1. The General Board in supervisory composition shall take the decisions relating to the tasks referred to in Articles 7 to 10 as well as any other decision which, pursuant to this Regulation, is to be taken by the General Board in supervisory composition.
2. The General Board in supervisory composition may provide its opinion on any draft decision prepared by the Executive Board in relation to selected obliged entities, in accordance with Chapter II, Section 3, and Article 64(2).
The General Board in supervisory composition and the Executive Board shall jointly agree on, and adopt, the procedures and timelines to be followed for the purpose of providing the opinion referred to in the first subparagraph.
3. The General Board in FIU composition shall perform the tasks and adopt the decisions referred to in Article 5(5) and Chapter II, Section 6.
4. The General Board shall adopt the opinions, recommendations, guidelines and decisions of the Authority referred to in Chapter II, Section 7, in the appropriate composition, having regard to the subject matter of the instrument. Where a given instrument concerns both supervision-related matters and FIU-related matters, the General Board in supervisory composition and the General Board in FIU composition shall each adopt separately those opinions, recommendations, guidelines and decisions. The opinions, recommendations, and guidelines shall be adopted based on a proposal of the relevant internal committee.
5. The General Board shall vote on the draft regulatory technical standards referred to in Article 49 and the draft implementing technical standards referred to in Article 53 and submit them to the Commission for adoption, in the appropriate composition, having regard to the subject matter of the standards.
6. The General Board in either composition shall be consulted on the draft decisions to be taken by the Executive Board pursuant to Article 64(4), points (a), (c), (e) and (m). Where the subsequent decision taken by the Executive Board deviates from the opinion of the General Board, the Executive Board shall provide the reasons thereof in writing.
7. The General Board shall adopt its rules of procedure and make them public.
8. Without prejudice to Article 63(3) and (4) and Article 68(1) and (2), the General Board shall exercise the powers conferred by the Staff Regulations on the appointing authority and by the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants on the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment (‘the appointing authority powers’) with regard to the Chair of the Authority and the five full-time members of the Executive Board, throughout their mandate.
Voting rules of the General Board
1. Decisions of the General Board shall be taken by a simple majority of its members. Each voting member as determined by Article 57(2) and (3) shall have one vote. In the event of a tied vote, the Chair of the Authority shall have a casting vote.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 of this Article, the General Board shall, with regard to the acts referred to in Articles 49, 53, 54 and 55 of this Regulation, take decisions on the basis of a qualified majority of its members, as provided for in Article 16(4) TEU.
The Chair of the Authority shall not vote on the decisions referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph, the opinions referred to in Article 60(2) or the decisions related to the evaluation of the performance of the Executive Board referred to in Article 63(5).
3. The members without the right to vote and the observers shall not attend any discussions held within the General Board in supervisory composition relating to individual obliged entities, unless otherwise provided for in the legislative acts referred to in Article 1(2) or otherwise decided upon by the members with the right to vote.
4. Paragraph 3 shall not apply to the Executive Board members and the ECB representative nominated by the Supervisory Board of the ECB.
5. The Chair of the Authority shall have the prerogative to call a vote at any time. Without prejudice to that prerogative and to the effectiveness of the Authority’s decision-making procedures, the General Board shall strive for consensus when taking its decisions.
Meetings of the General Board
1. The Chair of the Authority shall convene the meetings of the General Board.
2. The General Board shall hold at least two ordinary meetings per year. In addition, it shall meet on the initiative of its Chair, or at the request of at least one third of its members.
3. The General Board may invite any person whose opinion may be of interest to attend its meetings as an observer.
4. The members of the General Board and their alternates may, subject to its rules of procedure, be assisted at the meetings by advisers or experts.
5. The General Board shall be assisted by a secretariat provided by the Authority.
6. The Chair of the Authority and the five full-time members of the Executive Board shall not attend meetings of the General Board where matters concerning the performance of their mandate are discussed or decided upon.
SECTION 2 — Executive board
Composition and appointment of the Executive Board
1. The Executive Board shall be composed of:
(a)
the Chair of the Authority;
(b)
five full-time members, including the Vice-Chair.
Where the Executive Board carries out the tasks referred to in Article 64(4), points (a) to (l), a representative of the Commission shall be entitled to participate in the debates and shall only have access to the documents pertaining to those tasks.
2. The Executive Director shall participate in meetings of the Executive Board without the right to vote.
3. Where the decisions referred to in Article 64(2) in relation to a selected obliged entity are deliberated upon, the member of the General Board in supervisory composition from the Member State where the concerned selected obliged entity is established may participate in the deliberations during the relevant meetings of the Executive Board.
That member of the General Board shall not be present during the vote following such deliberations.
4. The Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall be selected on the basis of merit, skills, knowledge, integrity, recognised standing and experience in the area of AML/CFT, and other relevant qualifications, following an open selection procedure which shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union .
The Commission shall prepare a shortlist of candidates for the position of the Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b). The European Parliament may conduct hearings of the candidates on that shortlist.
The General Board shall submit a proposal for the appointment of the Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), to the European Parliament, based on the shortlist prepared by the Commission. Following the European Parliament’s approval of that proposal, the Council shall adopt an implementing decision to appoint those Executive Board members. The Council shall act by qualified majority.
Throughout the appointment process, the principles of gender and geographical balance shall be taken into account to the extent possible.
5. The term of office of the Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall be four years. In the course of the 12 months preceding the end of their four-year term of office, the General Board in both compositions or a smaller committee selected among General Board members, including a Commission representative, shall carry out an assessment of those Executive Board members. The assessment shall take into account an evaluation of each Executive Board member’s performance and the Authority’s future tasks and challenges. Based on the assessment, the General Board in both compositions may propose to the European Parliament to extend their term of office. Such extension may be granted only once. Following the European Parliament’s approval of the General Board’s proposal, the Council shall adopt an implementing decision to extend the term of office of the Executive Board member or members concerned. The Council shall act by qualified majority.
6. The Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall act independently and objectively in the interest of the Union as a whole and shall neither seek nor take instructions from Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, or from any government or any other public or private body. The Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, the governments of Member States and all other public or private bodies shall respect that independence.
7. If an Executive Board member referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of that member’s duties or has been guilty of serious misconduct, the Council may, acting on its own initiative or following a proposal by the European Parliament or the General Board in either composition, adopt an implementing decision to remove that member of the Executive Board from office. The Council shall act by qualified majority.
8. During a period of 18 months after ceasing to hold office, the former Executive Board members, including the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Authority, shall be prohibited from engaging in a gainful occupational activity with:
(a)
a selected obliged entity;
(b)
any other entity, where doing so would or could lead to a conflict with the legitimate interests of the Authority.
In its rules for the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in respect of its members, referred to in Article 64(4), point (e), the Executive Board shall specify the circumstances under which such a conflict of interest exists or could be perceived to exist.
Tasks of the Executive Board
1. The Executive Board shall be responsible for the overall planning and execution of the tasks conferred on the Authority pursuant to Article 5. The Executive Board shall adopt all decisions of the Authority with the exception of the decisions that are to be taken by the General Board in accordance with Article 60.
2. The Executive Board shall adopt the decisions addressed to selected obliged entities for the purposes of the exercise of the powers referred to in Article 6(1), taking into account the proposal of the selected obliged entity’s joint supervisory team referred to in Article 16, the proposal of the independent investigatory team referred to in Article 27, and the opinion provided by the General Board on that proposed decision pursuant to Article 60(2). Where the Executive Board decides to deviate from such an opinion, it shall provide detailed reasons thereof in writing.
3. The Executive Board shall adopt the decisions addressed to individual public authorities pursuant to Articles 14, 30, and 32 to 36.
4. In addition, the Executive Board shall have the following tasks:
(a)
adopt, by 30 November of each year, on the basis of a proposal by the Executive Director, the draft single programming document in accordance with Article 65, and transmit it, for information to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission by 31 January of the following year, as well as adopt and transmit any other updated version of the document;
(b)
adopt the draft annual budget of the Authority and exercise other functions in respect of the Authority’s budget;
(c)
assess and adopt a consolidated annual report on the Authority’s activities, including an overview of the fulfilment of its tasks, transmit it, by 1 July of each year, to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and make it public;
(d)
adopt an anti-fraud strategy, proportionate to fraud risks, taking into account the costs and benefits of the measures to be implemented;
(e)
adopt rules for the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in respect of its members, as well as the members of the Administrative Board of Review;
(f)
adopt its rules of procedure;
(g)
exercise, with respect to the staff of the Authority, the appointing authority powers;
(h)
adopt appropriate implementing rules for giving effect to the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants in accordance with Article 110(2) of the Staff Regulations;
(i)
appoint the Executive Director and remove him or her from office in accordance with Article 70(5);
(j)
appoint an accounting officer, who may be the Commission’s accounting officer, subject to the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, who shall be fully independent in the performance of his or her duties;
(k)
ensure adequate follow-up to findings and recommendations stemming from the internal or external audit reports and evaluations, as well as from investigations of OLAF;
(l)
adopt the financial rules applicable to the Authority;
(m)
take all decisions on the establishment of the Authority’s internal structures and, where necessary, on their modification.
5. The Executive Board shall select a Vice-Chair of the Authority from among its voting members. The Vice-Chair shall automatically replace the Chair of the Authority if the Chair is unable to attend to his or her duties.
6. With respect to the powers referred to in paragraph 4, point (h), of this Article, the Executive Board shall adopt, in accordance with Article 110(2) of the Staff Regulations, a decision based on Article 2(1) of the Staff Regulations and Article 6 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, delegating relevant appointing authority powers to the Executive Director. The Executive Director shall be authorised to sub-delegate those powers.
7. In exceptional circumstances, the Executive Board may, by way of a decision, temporarily suspend the delegation of the appointing authority powers to the Executive Director and any sub-delegation by the Executive Director and exercise them itself or delegate them to one of its members or to a staff member other than the Executive Director.
Annual and multiannual programming
1. By 30 November of each year, the Executive Board shall adopt a single programming document containing a multiannual work programme and an annual work programme, based on a draft put forward by the Executive Director, taking into account the opinion of the Commission and — regarding the multiannual work programme — after consulting the European Parliament. If the Executive Board decides not to take into account any elements of the opinion of the Commission, it shall provide a thorough justification for that decision. The obligation to provide a thorough justification shall also apply to any elements raised by the European Parliament when it is consulted. The Executive Board shall forward the single programming document to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.
The single programming document shall become final after the final adoption of the general budget and shall, if necessary, be adjusted accordingly.
2. The annual work programme shall comprise detailed objectives and expected results, including performance indicators. It shall also contain a description of the actions to be financed and an indication of the financial and human resources allocated to each action, in accordance with the principles of activity-based budgeting and management. The annual work programme shall be coherent with the multiannual work programme. It shall clearly indicate which tasks have been added, changed or deleted in comparison with the previous financial year.
3. The Executive Board shall amend the adopted annual work programme when a new task is given to the Authority.
Any substantial amendment to the annual work programme shall be adopted by the same procedure as the initial annual work programme. The Executive Board may delegate the power to make non-substantial amendments to the annual work programme to the Executive Director.
4. The multiannual work programme shall set out overall strategic programming including objectives, expected results and performance indicators. It shall also set out resource programming including multiannual budget and staff.
The resource programming shall be updated annually. The strategic programming shall be updated where appropriate.
Voting rules of the Executive Board
1. The Executive Board shall take decisions by a simple majority of its members. Each member of the Executive Board shall have one vote. The Chair of the Authority, or the Vice-Chair when replacing the Chair, shall have a casting vote in the event of a tied vote.
2. A representative of the Commission shall have a right to vote whenever matters pertaining to Article 64(4), points (a) to (l), are discussed and decided upon.
3. The Executive Board’s rules of procedure shall establish more detailed voting arrangements, in particular the circumstances in which a member can act on behalf of another member.
Fundamental Rights Officer
1. The Executive Board shall, upon a proposal of the Executive Director, designate a Fundamental Rights Officer. The Fundamental Rights Officer may be a member of the existing staff of the Authority.
2. The Fundamental Rights Officer shall perform the following tasks:
(a)
advise the staff of the Authority on any activity carried out by the Authority, where the Officer deems it necessary or where requested by the staff without impeding or delaying those activities;
(b)
promote and monitor the Authority’s compliance with fundamental rights;
(c)
provide non-binding opinions on the compliance of the Authority’s activities with fundamental rights;
(d)
inform the Executive Director and the Executive Board about possible violations of fundamental rights in the course of the Authority’s activities.
3. The Executive Board shall ensure that the Fundamental Rights Officer does not seek or take any instructions regarding the exercise of the Officer’s tasks.
4. The Fundamental Rights Officer shall report directly to the Executive Director and prepare regular reports on the performance of the tasks referred to in paragraph 2. Those reports shall be made available to the Executive Board.
SECTION 3 — The Chair of the Authority
Appointment of the Chair of the Authority
1. The Chair of the Authority shall be selected on the basis of merit, skills, knowledge, integrity, recognised standing and experience in the area of AML/CFT and other relevant qualifications, following an open selection procedure which shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union . The European Parliament, the Council and the General Board shall be kept duly informed at every stage of that procedure in a timely manner.
The Commission shall prepare a shortlist of at least two qualified candidates for the position of the Chair of the Authority. The European Parliament and the General Board may conduct hearings of the candidates on that shortlist. The General Board may issue a public opinion on the results of its hearings, or address its opinion to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.
The Commission shall submit a proposal for the appointment of the Chair of the Authority to the European Parliament.
Following the European Parliament’s approval of that proposal, the Council shall adopt an implementing decision to appoint the Chair of the Authority. The Council shall act by qualified majority.
By way of derogation from the second subparagraph, for the appointment of the first Chair of the Authority following the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall make a proposal for the appointment of the Chair without the involvement of the General Board.
2. The Chair of the Authority shall act independently and objectively in the interest of the Union as a whole and shall neither seek nor take instructions from the Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies nor from any government or from any other public or private body. The Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, the governments of the Member States and all other public or private bodies shall respect that independence.
3. The term of office of the Chair of the Authority shall be four years. In the course of the 12 months preceding the end of the Chair’s four-year term of office, the General Board in both compositions or a smaller committee selected among General Board members including a Commission representative shall carry out an assessment of the Chair. The assessment shall take into account an evaluation of the Chair’s performance and the Authority’s future tasks and challenges. Based on the assessment, the Commission may propose to the European Parliament to extend the Chair’s term of office. Such an extension may be granted only once. Following the European Parliament's approval of the Commission’s proposal, the Council shall adopt an implementing decision to extend the term of office of the Chair of the Authority. The Council shall act by qualified majority.
4. If the Chair of the Authority no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of his or her duties or has been guilty of serious misconduct, the Council may, acting on its own initiative, or following a proposal by the European Parliament or the General Board in either composition, adopt an implementing decision to remove the Chair of the Authority from office. The Council shall act by qualified majority.
5. If the Chair of the Authority resigns or is unable to attend to his or her duties for any other reason, the functions of the Chair shall be performed by the Vice-Chair.
Responsibilities of the Chair of the Authority
1. The Chair of the Authority shall represent the Authority and shall be responsible for preparing the work of the General Board and the Executive Board, including setting the agenda, convening and chairing all the meetings and tabling items for decision.
2. The Chair of the Authority shall assign to the members of the Executive Board referred to in Article 63(1), point (b), specific areas of responsibility, within the scope of tasks of the Authority, for the duration of their mandate.
SECTION 4 — The Executive Director
Appointment of the Executive Director
1. The Executive Director shall be engaged as a temporary agent of the Authority under Article 2, point (a), of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants.
2. The Executive Director shall perform his or her duties in the interest of the Union, and independently of any specific interests.
3. The Executive Director shall manage the Authority. The Executive Director shall be accountable to the Executive Board. Without prejudice to the powers of the Commission and of the Executive Board, the Executive Director shall be independent in the performance of his or her duties and shall neither seek nor take instructions from any Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, nor from any government or from any other public and private body.
4. The Executive Director shall be selected on the grounds of merit and documented high-level administrative, budgetary and management skills, following an open selection procedure which shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and, as appropriate, other press or internet sites. The Commission shall draw up a shortlist of at least two qualified candidates for the position of Executive Director. The Executive Board shall appoint the Executive Director.
5. The term of office of the Executive Director shall be five years. In the course of the nine months preceding the end of the Executive Director’s term of office, the Executive Board shall undertake an assessment that takes into account an evaluation of the Executive Director’s performance and the Authority’s future tasks and challenges. The Executive Board, taking into account the evaluation, may extend the term of office of the Executive Director once.
The Executive Director may be removed from office by the Executive Board on the proposal of the Commission.
6. An Executive Director whose term of office has been extended shall not participate in another selection procedure for the same post at the end of the extended term of office.
Tasks of the Executive Director
1. The Executive Director shall be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Authority and shall aim to ensure gender and, to the extent possible, geographical balance within the Authority. In particular, the Executive Director shall be responsible for:
(a)
implementing decisions adopted by the Executive Board;
(b)
preparing the draft single programming document and submitting it to the Executive Board after consulting the Commission;
(c)
implementing the single programming document and reporting to the Executive Board on its implementation;
(d)
preparing the draft consolidated annual report on the Authority’s activities and presenting it to the Executive Board for assessment and adoption;
(e)
preparing an action plan following up conclusions of internal or external audit reports and evaluations, as well as investigations by OLAF, and regularly reporting on progress to the Commission, the General Board and the Executive Board;
(f)
protecting the financial interests of the Union by applying preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, without prejudicing the investigative competence of OLAF, by effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by recovering amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by imposing effective, proportionate and dissuasive administrative penalties, including financial penalties;
(g)
preparing an anti-fraud strategy for the Authority and presenting it to the Executive Board for approval;
(h)
preparing draft financial rules applicable to the Authority;
(i)
preparing, as part of the draft single programming document, the Authority’s draft statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure pursuant to Article 78 and implementing its budget pursuant to Article 79;
(j)
preparing and implementing an IT security strategy, ensuring appropriate risk management for all IT infrastructure, systems and services, which are developed or procured by the Authority as well as sufficient IT security funding;
(k)
implementing the annual work programme of the Authority under the control of the Executive Board;
(l)
preparing a draft report describing all activities of the Authority, with a section on financial and administrative matters.
2. The Executive Director shall take other necessary measures, notably the adoption of internal administrative instructions and the publication of notices, to ensure the functioning of the Authority, in accordance with this Regulation.
3. The Executive Director shall decide whether it is necessary to locate one or more staff members in one or more other Member States for the purpose of carrying out the Authority’s tasks in an efficient and effective manner. Before deciding to establish a local office, the Executive Director shall obtain the prior consent of the Commission, the Executive Board and any Member State concerned. The decision shall specify the scope of the activities to be carried out at the local office in a manner that avoids unnecessary costs and duplication of administrative functions of the Authority. An agreement with the Member State or Member States concerned shall be concluded accordingly.
SECTION 5 — Administrative Board of Review
Establishment and composition of the Administrative Board of Review
1. The Authority shall establish an Administrative Board of Review for the purposes of carrying out an internal administrative review of the decisions taken by the Authority in the exercise of the powers listed in Articles 21, 22, 23 and 77. The scope of the internal administrative review shall pertain to the procedural and substantive conformity of such decisions with this Regulation.
2. The Administrative Board of Review shall be composed of five individuals of high repute, having a proven record of relevant knowledge and professional experience, including supervisory experience in the area of AML/CFT, excluding current staff of the Authority, as well as current staff of AML/CFT supervisory authorities and FIUs or other national or Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies who are involved in the carrying out of the tasks conferred on the Authority by this Regulation. The Administrative Board of Review shall have sufficient resources and expertise to assess the exercise of the powers of the Authority under this Regulation.
3. The Administrative Board of Review shall decide on the basis of a majority of at least three of its five members.
Members of the Administrative Board of Review
1. The members of the Administrative Board of Review and two alternates shall be appointed by the General Board in supervisory composition for a term of five years, which may be extended once, following a public call for expressions of interest published in the Official Journal of the European Union . They shall not be bound by any instructions.
2. The members of the Administrative Board of Review shall act independently and in the public interest and shall not perform any other duties within the Authority. For that purpose, they shall make a public declaration of commitments and of interests indicating any direct or indirect interest which might be considered prejudicial to their independence or the absence of any such interest.
Decisions subject to review
1. A request for review may be brought before the Administrative Board of Review against decisions taken by the Authority pursuant to Article 6(1) and Articles 21, 22, 23 and 77 by any natural or legal person to whom the decision is addressed, or to whom it is of direct and individual concern.
2. Any request for review shall be made in writing, including a statement of grounds, and shall be lodged with the Authority within one month of the date of notification of the decision to the person requesting the review, or, in the absence thereof, of the day on which it came to the knowledge of the person requesting the review.
3. After ruling on the admissibility of the request for review, the Administrative Board of Review shall express an opinion within a period appropriate to the urgency of the matter and in any event no later than two months from the receipt of the request, and remit the case for preparation of a new decision to the Executive Board. The Executive Board shall take into account the opinion of the Administrative Board of Review and shall promptly adopt a new decision. The new decision shall abrogate the initial decision and replace it with either a decision of identical content or an amended decision.
4. A request for review pursuant to paragraph 2 may include a request to suspend the application of the decision subject to review proceedings. The Administrative Board of Review may, if it considers that the circumstances so require and taking into account the view of the Executive Board, order that application of the decision in question be suspended until the Executive Board adopts a new decision pursuant to paragraph 3. If the Administrative Board of Review does not decide on the request for suspension within 14 days, that request shall be deemed to be rejected.
5. The opinion expressed by the Administrative Board of Review, and the new decision adopted by the Executive Board pursuant to this Article, shall be reasoned and notified to the parties.
6. The Authority shall adopt a decision establishing the Administrative Board of Review’s rules of procedure.
Exclusion and objection
1. The members of the Administrative Board of Review shall not take part in any review proceedings if they have any personal interest in the proceedings, if they have previously been involved as representatives of one of the parties to the proceedings, or if they participated in the adoption of the decision under review.
2. If, for one of the reasons listed in paragraph 1 or for any other reason, a member of the Administrative Board of Review considers that he or she is not to take part in a review proceeding, he or she shall inform the Administrative Board of Review accordingly.
3. Any party to the review proceedings may object to any member of the Administrative Board of Review on any of the grounds listed in paragraph 1, or if the member is suspected of partiality. Any such objection shall not be admissible if the party to the review proceedings, while being aware of a ground for objecting, has taken a procedural step. No objection shall be permitted to be made based on the nationality of members.
4. The Administrative Board of Review shall decide on the action to be taken in the cases referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 without the participation of the member concerned. For the purposes of taking that decision, the member concerned shall be replaced on the Administrative Board of Review by his or her alternate.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
