Country-specific guidance Current

Requesting identity documents from an individual client in the EU

The EU sets the trigger and the standard; your member state fills in the remaining detail.

The EU's anti-money laundering framework sets out when you must request identity evidence from an individual client and what that evidence needs to look like. This guide covers the EU-wide standard. It is general information, not legal or compliance advice, and your own member state's law may add detail on top of it.

Action plan

1 Know when EU customer due diligence rules require a request The obligation is triggered by specific events, not a blanket rule for every client contact.

The EU's Anti-Money Laundering Regulation requires obliged entities to apply customer due diligence measures when establishing a business relationship, when carrying out an occasional transaction of at least EUR 10,000, whenever there is a suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing regardless of any exemption or threshold, and whenever there are doubts about the veracity or adequacy of previously obtained customer identification data.

  • Apply customer due diligence when establishing a new business relationship
  • Apply it for an occasional transaction of at least EUR 10,000, single or linked
  • Apply it whenever you suspect money laundering or terrorist financing, or doubt information already held

Done when: A request for identity documents was made at one of the Regulation's specific trigger points, not on an ad hoc basis

EUR-Lex: EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, Article 19
2 Request an identity document, supported by a reliable independent source A document alone, without any independent corroboration, does not fully meet the EU standard on its own.

The Regulation requires obliged entities to obtain the information, documents, and data needed to verify a customer's identity, either through submission of an identity document, passport, or equivalent, together with information from reliable and independent sources where relevant, or through a qualifying electronic identification means meeting a substantial or high assurance level.

  • Request a current identity document, passport, or equivalent from the individual
  • Where relevant, also obtain information from a reliable, independent source, not the client alone
  • Alternatively, use a qualifying electronic identification means at substantial or high assurance level

Done when: The identity document requested is supported by a reliable independent source, or a qualifying electronic identification means

See verifying identity documents came from a reliable source
3 Confirm what applies in your member state before 10 July 2027 The EU-wide version of this rule takes direct effect from a set date, not immediately.

The Regulation's identity request and verification standard becomes directly applicable in every member state from 10 July 2027. Until then, your obligation comes from your own member state's currently transposed anti-money laundering law, which already requires similar identity evidence under the EU's earlier directives. Confirm your current national requirement rather than assuming the newer EU-wide text already applies in full.

  • Treat 10 July 2027 as the date the Regulation's own identity standard becomes directly applicable EU-wide
  • Before that date, follow your member state's currently transposed national requirement
  • Re-check this if your firm operates across more than one member state

Done when: The identity request practice reflects the currently applicable national requirement, with the 2027 EU-wide change already understood and planned for

See what's EU-wide and what your member state sets independently