Brussels, 10/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On 10 February, the Council of the EU approved the inter-institutional agreement on the fourth directive on money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
This agreement provides for central registers to be set in place in the EU countries, stating the beneficial owners of companies (see EUROPE 11235). The competent authorities, their financial intelligence cells and individuals with a 'legitimate interest', such as investigative journalists or other citizens, will have unrestricted access to these central registers.
In February 2013, the European Commission proposed extending the scope of application of the European rules on money laundering. Amongst other things, the threshold above which cash payments for the acquisition of goods or gambling services must be subjected to specific scrutiny has been reduced (from 15,000 to 10,000 euros). On the financial sanctions, the minimum threshold for fines has been set at €1 million. In the event of infringements involving banks or other financial entities, this minimum level will be €5 million.
The member states now have two years to transpose the text into their national legislations. (Elodie Lamer)