Finalising new Anti-Money Laundering rules

Today in a joint meeting of the Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Civil Liberties Committees of the European Parliament, MEPs endorsed the outcome of the trialogue negotiations for the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive. These new rules are to guard the stability of the financial system from money laundering and terrorist financing. Moreover, it will provide authorities with new tools to prevent criminals from legalising illicit proceeds.

Krišjānis Kariņš MEP, Parliament's co-negotiator, has said throughout the whole legislative process: “Creating registers of beneficial ownership will help to lift the veil of secrecy of offshore accounts and greatly aid the fight against money laundering and blatant tax evasion.”

The register of the beneficial ownership of companies shall be accessible to the wider public via an authorisation process. The register would make it possible for police and tax authorities to uncover who is actually the true beneficiary of any EU legal entity, making life much more difficult for criminals.

Estimates suggest that money laundering accounts for as much as 2.7% of the world’s economic activity (GDP) - or $1.6 trillion in 2009. This is a challenge for both the competitiveness of legal business as well as for government coffers.

Additional changes include exemptions for certain gambling services and products (e.g. state lotteries), certain exemptions for e-money products and the introduction of a 'black list' with high-risk third countries.

After the endorsement by the responsible committees, and the first reading agreement in the EU Council, the EP will vote at second reading in plenary, possibly in April. The changes are set to come into force in the second half of 2017.