Brussels, 10/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Council of Bars and Law Societies of the European Union (CCBE) has published its comments on the Commission proposal for a third money laundering Directive. CCBE member bars have already raised a number of preliminary concerns with regard to the obligations that arise under the provisions of the second directive published by the Commission in June (see Europe of 3 July), challenging the utility of a third directive before the second has been transposed in all Member States. Greece, Sweden, Luxembourg and France have not yet transposed the directive. Hans-Jürgen Hellwig, CCBE President, commented: “We believe it is unwise to rush into drafting new legislation when the previous legislation is still being implemented and has not yet been properly evaluated."
In a press release, Hellwig notes: "The proposal for a third directive will add to the confusion that already exists with regard to the implementation of the second directive, and might present a missed opportunity to correct problems arising under the second directive.” The CCBE believes that an insufficient period of time has elapsed between the implementation of the second money laundering directive (Directive 2001/97/EC of 4 December 2001 and the current proposal for a third directive since bars are objecting to the issue of the general obligation on lawyers to report on a client's confidences. It is challenging the scrapping of obligations on lawyers since this amounts to violating the fundamental right of client confidentiality. The CCBE has numerous concerns about the text of the third directive, including the fact that lawyers should only be subject to reporting obligations when the transaction in question is above EUR 50,000 in value and in cash (Article 2); and that it should be the lawyer, and not the state, which should decide when a relationship with a client is to end.