Anti-money laundering - reinforcing the supervisory and regulatory framework

Djupanalys 02-09-2019

On the back of a number of high profile cases and alleged cases of money laundering, this briefing presents current initiatives and actions aiming at reinforcing the anti-money laundering supervisory and regulatory framework in the EU. This briefing first outlines (1) the EU supervisory architecture and the respective roles of European and national authorities in applying anti-money laundering legislation that have been further specified in the 5th AML Directive and (2) ways that have been proposed to further improve the anti-money laundering supervisory and regulatory frameworks, including the 12 September 2018 Commission’s communication, the changes to the European Supervisory Authority (ESA) Regulation adopted by the co-legislators on the basis of a Commission proposal and the most recent Commission’s state of play of supervisory and regulatory landscapes on anti-money laundering. Some previous AML cases are presented in Annex. This briefing updates an EGOV briefing originally drafted in April 2018. On a more prospective note, this briefing also presents (3) some possible additional reforms to bring about a more integrated AML supervisory architecture in the EU. In that respect, President-elect U. von der Leyen’s political declaration stresses the need for further action without specifying at this stage possible additional supervisory and regulatory developments: “The complexity and sophistication of our financial system has opened the door to new risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. We need better supervision and a comprehensive policy to prevent loopholes.”