Adverse media
Checked against the official texts on .
Adverse media is credible public information — news reports, court and regulatory publications, and other reliable sources — that links a customer, its beneficial owners or its managers to crime, corruption, sanctions evasion or other conduct relevant to money-laundering or terrorist-financing risk. It is a risk factor to be weighed, not a finding of guilt.
Also called: negative news, negative media, adverse media screening.
Why it matters for PSPs and EMIs
Registers and sanctions lists show only what has been formally recorded. Adverse media often shows risk earlier: an investigation, an enforcement action or a fraud pattern around a merchant. A payment institution that ignored credible reporting about a merchant will have difficulty explaining its onboarding decision afterwards.
What the law says
Not a defined legal term. The AMLR does not define "adverse media". The obligation to consider it comes from the duty to assess risk (AMLR Art. 20(2)) and from supervisory guidance.
How to weigh it. EBA Guidelines EBA/GL/2021/02 (ML/TF risk factors), Guideline 2, list as a customer reputation risk factor: "Are there adverse media reports or other relevant sources of information about the customer, for example are there any allegations of criminality or terrorism against the customer or the beneficial owner? If so, are these reliable and credible?" Firms should judge credibility by the quality and independence of the source and the persistence of the reporting, and should note that "the absence of criminal convictions alone may not be sufficient to dismiss allegations of wrongdoing".
Sources. EBA/GL/2021/02, paragraphs 1.31 and 1.32: credible and reliable open sources, such as reports in reputable newspapers, are among the sources firms should consider, and firms "should not normally rely on only one source to identify ML/TF risks".
Handling criminal-offence data. AMLR Art. 76(3): firms may process personal data relating to criminal offences only where it relates to money laundering, its predicate offences or terrorist financing, and must have procedures that distinguish between allegations, investigations, proceedings and convictions. See also GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) Art. 10.
How ProofVolt handles it
ProofVolt checks adverse media before the customer is asked for anything. A risk never disappears: no later document, round or AI output can quietly clear it.
Related
Sources
Informational only, not legal advice.