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EU May Take Action Against 15 States Slow to Implement Anti-Laundering Directive
By Matt Squire
printFifteen of the 27 European Union member states face further legal proceedings by the European Commission for their failure to implement the EU's Third Anti-Money Laundering Directive into their national laws. Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Slovakia will receive formal requests to take steps to implement the directive, the commission said Thursday. If the nations do not issue a "satisfactory reply" within two months, the commission could refer them to the European Court of Justice. The nations were required to implement the directive by Dec. 15, 2007. British...
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Europe's biggest financial institutions are largely prepared to comply with newly proposed amendments to the EU's anti-money laundering directive, compliance officers and banking attorneys say.
Irish lawmakers introduced a measure Tuesday that would impose anti-money laundering rules on casinos and company service providers in an effort to bring the country in line with a European directive.
British law and accounting firms are spending up to $1.5 million per year in their efforts to comply with a European anti-money laundering directive, according to an industry trade group.
The European Union Commission Thursday referred four countries, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, and Spain, to an EU court for failing to meet a December deadline to implement stronger anti-money laundering regulations.
Five of the 15 European Union countries chastised by the EU Commission for not adopting anti-money laundering directives quickly enough could have those issues resolved by the end of the year, according to compliance consultants.
The European Union Internal Market Commission sent 15 countries letters threatening "expeditious legal action" if they didn't transpose the EU's Third Money Laundering Directive into law after missing a December 2007 deadline. But none of the countries are racing to comply, consultants say.
As the deadline nears for the 25 member countries of the European Union to implement the provisions of the EU Third Money Laundering Directive, U.S. bankers have become aware that it's tougher in some provisions than the USA Patriot Act and other U.S. banking regulations.