As the EU nears final adoption of its latest anti-money laundering directive, questions remain over how nations and companies will implement the plan, the head of an industry advisory group said Thursday.
Ahead of Tuesday's debate on the provisions of the EU's Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, German banks' challenges include identifying transactions connected to terrorism and conducting CDD on beneficial owners, according to a senior German official.
European Union leaders Tuesday outlined steps beyond the finalization of the bloc's latest anti-money laundering directive to stem the financial networks of terror groups, promising more regulation to come.
EU representatives are set to advance proposals Wednesday that would require member-states to collect more data on beneficial owners, better scrutinize the finances of politicians and harmonize cross-border wire rules.
Factions within the European Union reached a compromise Tuesday on the terms of the long-awaited Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, including provisions to create central registers on the ultimate beneficial owners of corporate and other legal entities, as well as trusts in every member state.
On the eve of key behind-the-scenes talks on the Fourth European Union Anti-Money Laundering Directive, the rift over proposals for the public register of trusts has widened between the United Kingdom and Europe.
As European Union leaders negotiate a final version of the bloc's latest anti-money laundering directive, questions remain on how its proponents will overcome legal and political hurdles to its implementation.
Even with the parliamentary passage of the EU's anti-money laundering directive last month, tough debates lie ahead for the economic bloc's plans to better identify financial criminals, say observers.
EU parliamentarians voted Tuesday to require member-states to update their laws targeting money launderers and the financiers of terrorism, in part by naming corporate owners.
A European Parliamentary committee Thursday approved far-reaching changes to the EU's rules combating money laundering and terrorist financing, including an amendment that would require nations to publicize corporate owners.
The expected approval of amendments to the EU's proposed Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive will shine greater light on tax evaders and financial criminals hiding behind shell companies and trusts, according to Judith Sargentini, a Dutch member of the European Parliament.
European parliamentary members are set to require countries to publish registries naming the beneficial owners of privately-held corporations and trusts as part of a broad overhaul to the EU's anti-money laundering rules.
An EU plan approved Thursday that could force banks in member-states to open accounts for most applicants would complicate anti-money laundering compliance efforts, according to critics.
The EU Parliament adopted final recommendations Wednesday that would establish a public prosecutor's office and require member nations to ascertain the beneficial owners of companies incorporated within their jurisdictions.
A panel of European Union lawmakers approved plans Tuesday to harmonize definitions of corruption and money laundering throughout the bloc and ease asset seizures
A group of European Parliament members will soon weigh in on whether lawmakers should create an EU-wide police force and more closely cooperate on border security to stem financial crime, according to Bill Newton Dunn, a British lawmaker.
Despite having global standards in place for decades and financial institutions spending "an absolute fortune" on compliance, the international anti-money laundering effort is failing, according to a British official.
With an American anti-tax evasion law set to take effect and plans for another European Union directive to fight money laundering, French banks will soon have to know their clients better, according to Carolina Ceballos, a professor at the University of Strasbourg.
As the compliance expectations of European regulators grow, banks should proactively move to adopt future changes outlined in proposals for the EU's Fourth Money Laundering Directive, according to the former global head of compliance at ABN Amro.
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.