The European Union is failing to exploit valuable financial intelligence on terrorism and organized crime because of poor staffing in government bureaus and inadequate information sharing across borders, officials told parliamentarians.
Plans to expand access to data identifying the beneficiaries of companies and trusts following a massive leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm last year now enjoy broad support in the European Parliament, say sources.
A plan to harmonize how EU nations define and enforce laws against money laundering could simplify compliance expectations for multinational financial institutions, say sources.
EU lawmakers seeking to strengthen the bloc's controls against financial crime beyond what is currently being considered will pitch more rigorous transparency requirements for trusts, virtual currencies, prepaid cards and bank and payment account holders.