The Council of the EU adopted the provisional agreements with the European Parliament on the three texts aimed at strengthening the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT) (see EUROPE 13374/27) on Thursday 30 May at the Energy Council.
The package includes a Regulation that comprehensively harmonises AML/CFT rules across the EU for the first time, closing loopholes for fraudsters. It will apply in three years’ time.
Read the text: https://aeur.eu/f/cfz
It also includes a Directive that will improve the organisation of national AML/CFT systems by establishing clear rules on how Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and supervisory authorities work together. Member States will have between two and three years to transpose it.
Read the text: https://aeur.eu/f/cfx
Finally, the package establishes a new European AML/CFT Authority (AMLA) which will have direct and indirect supervisory powers over high-risk obliged entities in the financial sector. It will be based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and will begin operations in mid-2025.
Read the text: https://aeur.eu/f/cft
In addition, the Council of the EU announced that it had adopted the provisional agreement with Parliament on the revision of the Directive aimed at facilitating access by the national competent authorities to centralised registers of bank accounts. This revision provides for the introduction of a single point of access and extends access to banking information to the authorities responsible for prosecuting serious crime, in addition to the FIUs.
Read the text: https://aeur.eu/f/cg3
Parliament already approved the agreements in April (see EUROPE 13399/11, 13374/28). (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)