Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The European Parliament’s economic and justice committees have adopted a strong position on the new anti-money laundering legislation, introducing a new single rulebook and a new EU agency to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.
The aim of the EU legislation is to unify existing national rules that are deemed to be too fragmented and badly coordinated.
It is hoped this will ensure better enforcement of the rules and enhance our collective fight against money laundering.
In welcoming the move the EPP Group says it wants to step up the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing in Europe, “in particular by Russian oligarchs connected to the Ukraine war.”
The European Commission’s proposal includes several important elements, including extending the list of entities obliged to comply with the legislation, introducing mandatory registers for land and real estate owners and certain high-value goods, and enhancing the role of the new anti-money laundering agency.
The position adopted by the two committees responsible – the committee on economic and monetary affairs (ECON) and the committee on civil liberties, justice, and home affairs (LIBE) – is set to become the European Parliament’s mandate for the negotiations with EU member states, which are expected to start in May.
Reacting, Eero Heinäluoma, ECON negotiator on the EU anti-money laundering legislation, said: “This is without a doubt one of the key legislative files of this five-year parliamentary mandate. It is indisputably also one of the most necessary ones, as several scandals over recent years, such as those involving the Danske Bank and Credit Suisse, have shown.
“Numerous other factors call for better enforcement of anti-money laundering rules as well. For example, it was recently reported that the year 2022 was a record year in terms of anti-money laundering fines. Financial institutions have paid more than five billion dollars in fines for breaching current rules.”
EPP member Luděk Niedermayer, who is Parliament’s negotiator of the updates to the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Directive, noted, “Until now, unfortunately, the fight against money laundering has worked better on paper than in reality.
“Sanctioning Russian oligarchs proved to be an arduous feat for the Member State authorities.
“This is why we will close the plethora of loopholes that exist and which make life far too easy for money launderers. We will pave the way to tracing the ultimate beneficial owners of companies, real and land estate. We will also know who owns high-value assets such as yachts or private planes, and how the assets were purchased.
“So far, Member States work without clear coordination, organizing their Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and real estate registers totally differently. This makes cross-border access to data and cooperation very ineffective. Certain national authorities are completely blind when faced with money laundering cases. We will boost coordination between national units and enhance EU supervision to fix this”, explained Niedermayer.
Amongst others, the law package will set up a new EU Anti-Money Laundering Agency.
Emil Radev, who is a negotiator on behalf of the European Parliament regarding the creation of the new Anti-Money Laundering Agency, said, “The birth of this new body marks a game-changing moment in the battle against money laundering across Europe.
“With direct supervision of high-risk financial companies operating across multiple Member States, we’re unleashing a powerful watchdog to sniff out and tackle emerging threats to our financial system”.
“This Agency will strengthen and coordinate the cooperation and exchange of information between FIUs, and will also serve as the new central point, monitoring and enforcing sanctions across Member States. It will support national authorities and act as a main contact point to share information on designated people, their assets, and controlled companies. This will come in handy regarding the financial sanctions related to the war in Ukraine”, said Radev.
