EU Directive on strengthened rules to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing

On 14 May 2018, the European Council adopted a directive strengthening EU rules on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing.

The directive sets out to close down criminal finance without hindering the normal functioning of payment systems. Amending Directive 2015/849, the directive follows an agreement reached in December 2017 with the European Parliament, which approved the agreed text on 19 April 2018.

The main changes to directive 2015/849 involve:

• broadening access to information on beneficial ownership, improving transparency in the ownership of companies and trusts;
• addressing risks linked to prepaid cards and virtual currencies;
• cooperation between financial intelligence units;
• improved checks on transactions involving high-risk third countries.

Download the Directive and The Press Release, here aside

(Photo credits: Alessandra Pinca, Chiomenti)