Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU to create anti-money laundering agency

  • The Danske Bank affair, which emerged in 2018, was the largest in EU history (Photo: Jorge Láscar)

The EU is planning to create a new anti-money laundering watchdog in the wake of several bank scandals before the pandemic.

The Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), a new EU agency, will be the "centrepiece" of an updated regulatory system involving also national authorities, the European Commission said in a draft proposal, seen by the Reuters news agency.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Top German lenders have also faced fiascoes (Photo: Bjoern Laczay)

"Money laundering, terrorist financing, and organised crime remain significant problems which should be addressed at Union level," the draft said.

The AMLA is to make operational decisions on risky companies.

"By directly supervising and taking decisions towards some of the riskiest cross-border financial sector obliged entities, the Authority will contribute directly to preventing incidents of money laundering/terrorist financing in the Union," the Commission proposal said.

It would also keep an eye on national regulators to make sure they do their job.

"It [the AMLA] will coordinate national supervisory authorities and assist them to increase their effectiveness in enforcing the single rulebook and ensuring homogenous and high quality supervisory standards, approaches and risk assessment methodologies," the Commission added.

The proposal said EU states will have to harmonise anti-money laundering laws for the project to work.

They would also need new to adopt fresh rules on disclosing the real owners of cryptocurrency assets, the Commission said.

"The lack of such rules leaves holders of crypto-assets exposed to money laundering and financing of terrorism risks, as flows of illicit money can be done through transfers of crypto-assets," it said.

The EU contains several weak jurisdictions, which act as entry points for illicit money into the European banking system.

These include Austria, the Baltic states, Cyprus, Luxembourg, and Malta.

But leading Dutch, German, Nordic, and Spanish banks have also faced money-laundering scandals in recent years, including the €200bn Danske Bank affair in 2018 - the biggest in EU history.

The European Banking Authority (EBA), an EU regulator in Paris, already has an anti-money laundering unit.

But this amounts to just 10 or so officials with no real authority, whose probe into the Danske Bank fiasco surprised many by uncovering no wrongdoing.

And the proposed AMLA would take over the EBA's functions in this area, the Commission draft seen by Reuters said.

The draft document is to be published on 20 July after final tweaks and the AMLA is due to be up and running by 2026, if member states agree.

EU Parliament set to sue EU Commission over Hungary funds

The European Parliament will likely take the European Commission to court for unblocking more than €10bn in funds for Hungary last December. A final nod of approval is still needed by European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.

EU Commission clears Poland's access to up to €137bn EU funds

The European Commission has legally paved the way for Poland to access up to €137bn EU funds, following Donald Tusk's government's efforts to strengthen the independence of their judiciary and restore the rule of law in the country.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Opinion

I'll be honest — Moldova's judicial system isn't fit for EU

To state a plain truth: at present, Moldova does not have a justice system worthy of a EU member state; it is riven with corruption and lax and inconsistent standards, despite previous attempts at reform, writes Moldova's former justice minister.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us