Stopping the flow of dirty money: Parliament ready for negotiations

MEPs will open talks with the Council of the EU on reforming the EU’s anti-money laundering rules to help authorities crack down on the illicit flow of money and assets.

The European Parliament has approved its negotiating mandates for proposals reforming the EU’s policies on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). „The first meeting to start negotiations with the representatives of EU ministers will take place at the beginning of May.” – according to the press release.

The draft laws foresee new due diligence rules for businesses to verify customers’ identity, what they own and who controls them, and grant people with a legitimate interest (for example journalists, civil society organisations, and higher education institutions) access to beneficial ownership registers, among other provisions.

Finally, the package would create a European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) with supervisory and investigative powers to enforce the rules consistently. You can read more about the legislation here.

The draft negotiating mandates were announced at the opening of the 17 April plenary session. Since there were no objections to starting negotiations with the Council, the talks on the final form of the legislation can now start. The Council of the EU set its own negotiating position in December 2022.