EP approves antimoney laundering legislation
BRUSSELS, May 20 (KUNA) ¬¬ The European Parliament Wednesday endorsed the new anti¬money laundering legislation to step up the fight against tax crimes and terrorist financing. The anti¬money laundering law will for the first time oblige EU member states to keep central registers of information on the ultimate “beneficial” owners of corporate and other legal entities, as well as trusts, noted an EP statement.
The text also sets out specific reporting obligations for banks, auditors, lawyers, real estate agents and casinos, among others, on suspicious transactions made by their clients.
The text clarifies the rules on “politically¬exposed” persons”, i.e. people at a higher than usual risk of corruption due to the political positions they hold, such as heads of state, members of government, supreme court judges, and members of parliament, as well as their family members.
Where there are high¬risk business relationships with such persons, additional measures should be put in place, e.g. to establish the source of wealth and source of funds involved, says the legislation. The EP also approved a separate “transfers of funds” regulation, which aims to improve the traceability of payers and payees and their assets.
EU member states will have two years to transpose the anti¬money laundering legislation into their national laws. The transfers of funds regulation will be directly applicable in all EU member states 20 days after its publication in the EU Official Journal.
