Brussels, 07/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - Tuesday's Ecofin Council adopted a general political approach with a view to adopting the new directive on combating money laundering, aimed at extending the directive's scope to the financing of terrorism and to serious infringements such as corruption and fraud. The proposal transposes into European law several of the nine recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering. In future, new professions are expected to carry out information obligations.
There is unanimous support within the enlarged Union for extending the directive on money laundering to the financing of terrorism. Four Member States (Finland, Sweden, Hungary and Poland) hope to fix the entry into force of the future legislative act at eighteen months from now. Gerrit Zalm, Council President, welcomed the agreement, which shows that, during this final meeting of Economy and Finance Ministers under Dutch Presidency, "the harvest has been good". Strengthening European legislation on combating terrorism is one of the four points mentioned by Gijs De Vries, European Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, during the Ecofin Council.
With the proposal of directive, the providers of services to companies and trust funds, life insurance brokers and persons negotiating goods and services settled in cash for amounts of over EUR 15,000 will be under the obligation to inform authorities of all doubtful transactions. Since 1991, this obligation concerns financial establishments and, since 2001, lawyers, solicitors, accountants, real estate agents, art dealers, jewellers, auctioneers and casinos (EUROPE of 1 July).
The ball is now in the court of the European Parliament which is to give its opinion at first reading. Charlie McCreevie, Commissioner for the Internal and Services Market, hoped the Parliament would move forward as quickly as possible. There is every reason to believe that MEPs hope to act fast, and along the lines of the Council, to allow the text to be rapidly adopted.