MEPs on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) committees agreed on Tuesday 28 March on a negotiating mandate for three draft laws to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
This package includes: - a strengthened ‘AMLR’ regulation (see EUROPE 13150/15), which received 99 votes in favour, 8 against and 6 abstentions; - the ‘AMLA’ directive, voted by 107 votes in favour and 5 against ; - the Regulation establishing the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) (see EUROPE 13149/3), which received 102 votes in favour, 11 against and 2 abstentions.
“A year and a half of process has come to an end, we have received massive support”, said the co-rapporteur of the strengthened regulation, Eero Heinäluoma (S&D, Finnish), in an interview with EUROPE after the vote. “Our proposal is stricter than the European Commission’s” he said.
Indeed, as regards cash transactions, MEPs would like to see them limited to a maximum of €7,000 in the EU, as opposed to €10,000 in the Commission’s proposal. Member States will be able to lower this threshold, if they so wish. “The more you limit cash transactions, the less criminal activity there will be, because electronic money can be traced” Heinäluoma said.
Similarly, transactions in crypto-assets are limited to a value of €1,000 where individuals are not identified. “The rules extend to the digital world, and to the metaverse as well”, said the other co-rapporteur, Damien Carême (Greens/EFA, French), at a press briefing on Tuesday 28 March.
The regulation also bans golden visas, which allow some criminals to come to Europe. “It is a difficult issue, especially for Malta, but the majority of the Parliament and the Member States are of the same opinion”, Heinäluoma said.
Entities such as banks, asset and crypto-asset managers, real and virtual estate agents and professional football clubs in the first and second divisions will be required to verify who their customers are, what they own and who controls the business.
In the ‘AMLD6’, the parliament has strengthened the rules on beneficial ownership registers. They provide that any person holding at least 15% of the shares of a company should be mentioned as the owner. This threshold is lowered to 5% for high risk sectors.
“We will pave the way for tracing the ultimate beneficial owners of companies and real estate. We will also know who owns valuable assets such as yachts or private planes and how they were purchased”, explained co-rapporteur Luděk Niedermayer (EPP, Czech) in a statement.
Finally, MEPs wanted to strengthen the powers of the AMLA. “This Agency will strengthen and coordinate the cooperation and exchange of information between FIUs, and will also serve as the new central point, monitoring and enforcing sanctions across Member States”, stressed Emil Radev (EPP, Bulgarian), co-rapporteur of this third text, in a statement. The AMLA will directly supervise high-risk financial companies operating in several Member States. The elected representatives extended the scope of application to some 40 companies.
The Council of the EU has already taken a position. The trilogues are expected to start in May. Mr Heinäluoma expressed confidence in the negotiations with the Member States: “The facts are obvious to everyone: we need to have new, strict rules and the same rules everywhere in the EU”, he commented.
For the compromise amendments on the proposed ‘AMLD6’ directive: https://aeur.eu/f/62e ; on the regulation: https://aeur.eu/f/62f ; on the legislative proposal establishing the AMLA: https://aeur.eu/f/60w ; https://aeur.eu/f/60x ; https://aeur.eu/f/60y ; https://aeur.eu/f/60z ; https://aeur.eu/f/610 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)