Article 8National risk assessment

1. Each Member State shall carry out a national risk assessment to identify, assess, understand and mitigate the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, and the risks of non-implementation and evasion of targeted financial sanctions affecting it. It shall keep that risk assessment up to date and review it at least every 4 years.

Where Member States consider that the risk situation so requires, they may review the national risk assessment more frequently or conduct ad hoc sectoral risk assessments.

2. Each Member State shall designate an authority or establish a mechanism to coordinate the national response to the risks referred to in paragraph 1. The identity of that authority or the description of the mechanism shall be notified to the Commission. The Commission shall publish the list of the designated authorities or established mechanisms in the Official Journal of the European Union.

3. In carrying out the national risk assessments referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, Member States shall take into account the report referred to in Article 7(2), including sectors and products covered and the findings of that report.

4. Member States shall use the national risk assessment to:

(a)

improve their AML/CFT regimes, in particular by identifying any areas where obliged entities are to apply enhanced measures in line with a risk-based approach and, where appropriate, specifying the measures to be taken;

(b)

identify, where appropriate, sectors or areas of lower or greater risk of money laundering and terrorist financing;

(c)

assess the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing associated with each type of legal person established in their territory and each type of legal arrangement which is governed under national law, or which is administered in their territory or whose trustees or persons holding equivalent positions in similar legal arrangements reside in their territory; and have an understanding of the exposure to risks deriving from foreign legal persons and foreign legal arrangements;

(d)

decide on the allocation and prioritisation of resources to combat money laundering and terrorist financing as well as non-implementation and evasion of targeted financial sanctions;

(e)

The article continues in the official text.