On 28th July 2025, the Administration de l'Enregistrement, des Domaines et de la TVA – Registration Duty, Estate and VAT Authority ("AED"), being the supervisory authority in Luxembourg responsible for ensuring AML/CFT compliance by, inter alia, unregulated funds, issued a Circular relating to the obligation to identify and verify the identity of individual customers by professionals under the control and supervision of the AED in matters relating to the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Article 3(2)(a) of the Law of 12 November 2004 on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing ("AML Law") specifies that professionals are required to identify the customer and verify the customer's identity on the basis of documents, data, or information from a reliable and independent source, including, where applicable, electronic identification means and relevant trust services provided for in Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014, or any other secure, electronic or remote identification process regulated, recognized, approved, or accepted by the relevant national authorities.
In this respect, the Circular specifies that the means for identification arise from a public authority and include the following documentation:
- Identity card;
- Passport; and
- Any other similar document from a reliable and independent source.
Furthermore, when professionals are presented with the abovementioned documents, they need to ensure that the identification document is valid, bear the customer's signature and a photo of the customer.
With reference to identification documents issued by foreign authorities, the identification information (surname(s), first name(s), gender, nationality, date of birth, ID number, expiration date, and issuing country) included therein must be at least in English, alongside the original language, to ensure that the contents of the identity document are understandable for both the professional and other supervisory authorities.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
