In the context of the increasingly complex compliance
environment within which financial entities operate today, banks
are often faced with a conflict between the need to respect
fundamental principles of access and inclusion and the requirement
to safeguard the integrity of the financial system. The anti-money
laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing
(CFT) legal framework imposes rules on banks to
continuously assess risks under the threat of critical regulatory
and reputational consequences. Simultaneously, consumer protection
rules oblige banks to ensure broad, non-discriminatory access to
basic financial services.
The parallel application of these two fundamental principles
poses practical difficulties for banks in onboarding customers. It
is against this regulatory tension that the Advocate General
Richard de la Tour (the AG) issued an
opinion, delivered on 4 September 2025,
(the Opinion) in the case which has been
brought before the Court of Justice of
