An important package of laws, which strengthens the EU’s set of tools for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, was adopted on Wednesday, April 24, by the European Parliament.
The new laws guarantee that persons with a legitimate interest, including journalists, media professionals, civil society organizations, competent authorities and supervisory bodies, will have “immediate, unfiltered, direct and free” access to information, regarding the real beneficiaries, held in national registers and interconnected at EU level.
In addition to current information, the registers will also include data at least five years old. The rules also include a €10,000 cap on large cash payments in the EU, due diligence obligations for football clubs and agents from 2029 and a new EU agency to directly oversee the highest-risk entities.
At the same time, the laws give the financial intelligence units (FIU) more powers to analyze and detect cases of money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as to suspend suspicious transactions, the press release of the European Parliament also states.
The duty of care on a large scale
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The new laws include enhanced due diligence measures and checks on the identity of customers, whereby so-called obliged entities (eg banks, asset and crypto asset managers or real estate and virtual agents) must report suspicious activities to financial intelligence units and other authorities competent.
From 2029, top professional football clubs involved in significant financial transactions with investors or sponsors, including advertising activities and player transfers, will also have to verify the identity of customers, monitor transactions and report any suspicious transactions to financial information units.
The legislation also contains increased vigilance provisions for the very wealthy (with a total wealth of at least 50,000,000 euros, excluding their main residence), an EU-wide limit of 10,000 euros for cash payments , with the exception of natural persons in a non-professional context, and measures to ensure compliance with specific financial sanctions and to avoid the evasion of sanctions.
Central level monitoring
To oversee the new anti-money laundering rules, a new Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Authority (AMLA) will be established in Frankfurt.
The AMLA will be tasked with directly supervising the financial entities with the greatest risk, intervening in case of deficiencies in supervision, playing a central role for the supervisory authorities and mediating disputes between them. The AMLA will also oversee the implementation of specific financial sanctions.
The anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) package includes the Sixth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive (adopted by 513 votes to 25 with 33 abstentions), the EU’s “Single Regulatory Framework ” (adopted by 479 votes for, 61 against and 32 abstentions) and the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) regulation (adopted by 482 votes for, 47 against and 38 abstentions).
Laws must also be officially adopted by the Council, before being published in the EU Official Journal.
By adopting them, the Parliament responds to the citizens’ requests presented in the conclusions of the Conference on the future of Europe, in particular proposal 16 paragraphs (1) and (2) regarding the prevention of tax evasion and cooperation in the field of corporate taxation.
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Tags: laws fight money laundering Limit euros large cash payments
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