04/12/2018 (Agence Europe) – European Finance Ministers adopted, on Tuesday 4 December, EU Council conclusions establishing an action plan to fight money laundering (see EUROPE 12146). These conclusions set out several short-term non-legislative measures to be taken in 2019, including identifying risk factors, good practices and also clarifying aspects related to the withdrawal of banking licences in the event of a breach of EU law. Asked at a press conference about possible legislative initiatives in this area, the European Commissioner for Financial Services, Valdis Dombrovskis, explained that for the time being they were “quick fixes" in response to recent money laundering cases in the EU. But the action plan also asks the Commission to identify longer-term measures, including legislative ones, by the third quarter of 2019, he reminded. (MF)