Brussels, 26/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 26 July, the Commission proposed a regulation to reinforce controls on electronic transfers of money, and will thus implement recommendation number 7 of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). The availability of information on the identity of the ordering customer at the beneficiary establishment for a transfer is a new addition to this legislative proposal compared to the existing regulatory framework. The obligation that relates to the availability of information, the Member States remaining competent in terms of the access of their authorities to these data.
The information which it will be obligatory to send will be as follows: the name, address and account number of the ordering customer, whether this is a physical or legal entity (foundation, company, etc). This information must be kept for five years, in line with the equivalent provisions included in the third directive on money laundering (see EUROPE 8843 and 8956). The beneficiary establishment will be obliged to reject the transfer if it is not accompanied by the required information, or to put an end to relations with any financial institution which does not respect these rules. These obligations will apply to any transfer of funds sent or received by a provider of payment services established in the EU, whatever sum of money is transferred and whatever currency is used. It will therefore apply to banks, trusts, and companies specialising in the transfer of money for individuals, such as Western Union.
For intra-Community transfers, the system to be brought in will be less rigorous. The only information it will be obligatory to send to the beneficiary establishment will be the account number of the originator. The establishment originating the transfer will keep the other data relative to the ordering customer and send them to the beneficiary establishment within three days, but only if this establishment requests them. In the autumn, the Commission is to present a proposed directive with the aim of creating a European space for payments (see EUROPE 8995).
This regulation, which will be subject to the co-decision procedure as its legal basis comes under the heading of the internal market, is set to be adopted by the end of the year, under the UK Presidency, which has made it a priority as part of its action plan to fight terrorism. It will be implemented as of January 2007. The Commission stresses that this measure has been called for by the financial sector. It acknowledges that the risk of harmful effects will relate to the verification of the identity of the ordering customers.