Carolina Garces-Monterrubio, global head of financial crime compliance at Santander Bank, voiced the private sector’s concerns about the anti-money laundering package at a conference on Tuesday 25 October organised by the state of Hesse and the German Federal Ministry of Finance. The panel of European and German policy makers discussed the outlines of the legislative texts on the table.
“The private sector is following developments very closely. Harmonisation of surveillance can only strengthen the EU’s financial sector”, said Ms Garces-Monterrubio.
However, she would like regulatory technical standards to focus less on technical compliance. “I would prefer for the rules to stay in line with international standards, so as not to create a competitive disadvantage”, she warned. She also pointed to the fragmentation caused by national transpositions of the European framework.
Raluca Pruna, head of the European Commission’s financial crime unit, explained that the anti-money laundering package was intended to harmonise the rules in the EU. “The aim is to provide more clarity”, she said. “What was challenging with the regulation was the reliance on third parties, outsourcing and beneficial ownership”, she added.
On behalf of the Czech Ministry of Finance, Markéta Hlavinová expressed the willingness of the Czech Presidency of the EU Council to “find a balance between regulatory needs and the initial objective”, while developing “a text that will be acceptable and workable for the private sector”.
Asked about the role of artificial intelligence (AI), Ms Garces-Monterrubio confirmed that this technology is increasingly used in the private sector. She regretted “gaps in the understanding of the benefits of AI in the fight against money laundering” and that artificial intelligence is not more widely included in EU law.
Ms Pruna defended the text, which she said addresses the issue of technology while ensuring that regulation is “technologically neutral”.
Furthermore, the panellists recalled that the package is currently at the interinstitutional negotiation stage. While the revision of the money laundering directive is almost finalised (see EUROPE 13040/29), the directive establishing the authority to fight money laundering and terrorist financing (AMLA) is with the co-legislators. The EU Council has adopted a partial position (see EUROPE 12982/17). The choice of the seat and the financing arrangements will be decided during the institutional negotiations with the European Parliament. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)