# Relatives and close associates (RCA)

**RCA stands for the relatives and close associates of a politically exposed person (PEP).** EU law calls them "family members" and "persons known to be close associates", and requires firms to apply to them the same additional measures that apply to the PEP.

*Also called:* PEP family members and close associates.

## Why it matters for PSPs and EMIs

Corrupt proceeds rarely sit in the PEP's own name. A spouse's company, a business partner's holding or an entity set up for the PEP's benefit are the more likely routes. For a payment institution, an RCA often appears as a beneficial owner or director of a merchant rather than as the account holder.

## What the law says

- **Family members.** AMLR Art. 2(1)(35): a spouse or registered or similar partner; a child and the child's spouse or partner; a parent; and, for heads of state, heads of government, ministers and deputy or assistant ministers (and equivalent Union or third-country functions), a sibling. Member States may extend the sibling category (Art. 2(5)).
- **Close associates.** AMLR Art. 2(1)(36): a natural person known to have joint beneficial ownership of legal entities or arrangements, or any other close business relations, with a PEP; or a natural person who has sole beneficial ownership of an entity or arrangement known to have been set up for the de facto benefit of a PEP.
- **Same measures.** AMLR Art. 46: the measures in Arts. 42 (senior management approval, source of wealth and funds, enhanced monitoring), 44 and 45 also apply to family members and close associates.
- **Guidance to come.** AMLR Art. 42(2)(a): AMLA guidelines on the criteria for identifying persons known to be close associates, due by 10 July 2027.
- **Until 10 July 2027.** Directive (EU) 2015/849, Art. 3(10) and (11) and Art. 23, as transposed nationally.
- **International standard.** FATF Recommendation 12.

## How ProofVolt handles it

Where the screening data identifies a person ProofVolt already screens — a director or beneficial owner, for example — as a relative or close associate of a PEP, ProofVolt handles that match as it handles a PEP match. ProofVolt does not itself research a PEP's family members or associates who have no other link to the customer.

## Related

- [Politically exposed person (PEP)](/glossary/politically-exposed-person/)
- [Beneficial owner (UBO)](/glossary/beneficial-owner/)
- [Enhanced due diligence (EDD)](/glossary/enhanced-due-diligence/)

Canonical: https://proofvolt.eu/glossary/relatives-and-close-associates/