Brussels, 20/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Council of the EU approved, at first reading on Monday 20 April, the inter-institutional agreement on the legislative package (one regulation and one directive) modifying the directive aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorist financing (see EUROPE 11220).
The directive, which will be applicable two years after its adoption, will extend the scope of the legal and natural persons covered, by reducing the threshold for cash payments to be subject to due diligence from €15,000 to €10,000. Providers of gambling services will have to pay attention to transactions greater than €2,000.
Central registers of the beneficial owners of companies will be set up in the EU member states. These registers will be accessible without restriction to the competent authorities and their financial intelligence cells, as well as to individuals with a 'legitimate interest', such as investigative journalists or other citizens. Member states may even decide to make these registers public.
As concerns sanctions, the lower limit for fines has been set at €1 million. In the event of an infringement involving banks or financial institutions, this minimum penalty has been set at €5 million.
The European Parliament will enshrine these provisions at the end of this month. (Mathieu Bion)