Strasbourg, 25 April 2024 – The European Parliament (EP) on Wednesday 24 April approved a package of legislative measures that strengthen EU’s tools to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The new rules introduce stricter controls for businesses and individuals, increase transparency, and enhance oversight of financial flows.
Key points of the approved measures:
- Increased transparency: A public register of beneficial owners will be created, containing information on the real owners of companies and other legal entities. People with a “legitimate interest”, such as journalists, activists, and supervisory authorities, will have immediate and free access to the information in the register.
- Enhanced powers for Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs): FIUs will have more tools at their disposal to analyze and detect money laundering and terrorist financing. They will be able, for example, to freeze suspicious transactions and require banks and other financial institutions to provide additional information.
- Expanded identity checks: Businesses and individuals subject to ‘know your customer’ (KYC) obligations will have to conduct stricter identity checks on their clients. This applies in particular to banks, asset managers, real estate agents, and cryptocurrency dealers.
- New rules for football clubs: From 2029, top football clubs will also have to verify the identity of investors, sponsors and other partners and report suspicious activity to FIUs.
- Restriction on cash payments: A €10,000 EU-wide cap on cash payments will be introduced (with exceptions for payments between private individuals in non-professional settings).
- Establishment of an EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA): A new body will oversee the enforcement of AML/CFT rules across the EU. The AMLA will have direct powers over the riskiest financial entities and will be able to intervene in case of supervisory failures by Member States.
The approved rules are expected to:
- Reduce the amount of money laundered in the EU, which is estimated to be hundreds of billions of euros per year.
- Increase the transparency of financial flows and make it easier to detect and prosecute criminal activities.
- Strengthen the EU’s resilience against terrorist financing.
The package of legislative measures is comprehensive and ambitious. Its implementation will require close cooperation between Member States, the EU, and relevant actors in the private sector. The new rules are expected to have a significant impact on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing in Europe.
Sources:
- European Parliament: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en
- Report on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20230327IPR78511/new-eu-measures-against-money-laundering-and-terrorist-financingpen_spark
