Recent developments in EU legislation on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing

Abstract

Money laundering and terrorist financing pose a clear risk to the integrity, proper functioning, reputation and stability of society, especially regarding the financial system. Accordingly, there must be effective measures to address these risks and threats, which are of a cross-border nature. The European Commission has been doing a relevant work in this field but it is important not to rush things, in order to ensure that, in close cooperation with the Member States and all the actors involved, the new legislative measures and initiatives will be properly implemented, in order to achieve a harmonized framework and to avoid unnecessary overlapping and redundancies with real impact on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. Moreover, it is necessary to ensure that the effectiveness of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) policies does not impinge upon human rights in an impermissible manner. In particular, as regards the processing and access to personal data involved in beneficial ownership information, the amendments to the 4th AML Directive might arguably not be in full compliance with the principle of proportionality.