Risk-Based Customer Due Diligence: Regulatory Approaches

Regulators face a challenge in balancing policies on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism against placing the least burden on outreach to the poor and unbanked. This Technical Note provides guidance on using risk-based approaches to customer due diligence (CDD), supported by examples drawn from around the world. There are three regulatory options for employing risk-based CDD:

1. Principles-based approach.
2. Single low-risk threshold.
3. Framework of multiple risk tiers.

Each requires regulators to determine the level of risk and then to decide the appropriate processes of simplified due diligence.