- Information on beneficial owners should be accessible
- EU limit on large cash payments of 10 000 euro
- Transparency rules to apply to football clubs and agents from 2029
On Thursday, MEPs struck a deal with the Council on the last part of the new anti-money laundering package, including new provisions for football clubs.
Parliament and Council negotiators reached an agreement on the EU “single rulebook” regulation. This will provide detailed measures that banks and other entities will need to apply to protect the EU internal market from money laundering and terrorist financing. The provisions are part of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) package, including the sixth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) directive, agreed on 17 January 2024.
Transparency on beneficial ownerships
According to the agreed bill, to detect money laundering schemes and freeze assets in time, national Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and other competent authorities will be able to access information on beneficial ownership (BO) held by so-called obliged entities (e.g. banks, assets and crypto assets managers or real and virtual estate agents). The information on beneficial owners of certain foreign legal entities will also be in the BO registers. This provision applies retroactively up to 10 years back for real estate.
Negotiators also agreed that beneficial ownership means having at least 25% of shares, or voting rights, or other direct or indirect ownership interest, calculated at every level of the value chain, as well as control or indirect control of an entity.
Football clubs and ultra-rich individuals
Obliged entities are required to verify their customers’ identity, monitor transactions and report any suspicion to FIUs. If they identify any discrepancy, they will transmit it to the BO central register. They will also regularly review the information received, with a risk-based approach.
During the negotiations, MEPs secured that from 2029 professional football clubs and agents (if they are involved in the transactions within the scope of the rules) will be obliged to apply the same transparency rules. Member states could exempt some less risky transactions, football clubs below the top league and with yearly turnover less than 5 million euro over 2 years.
Negotiators also achieved enhanced vigilance regarding ultra-rich individuals (persons with total wealth of at least 50 000 000 euro of value, excluding main residence) qualified as having a higher risk profile and those providing personalised wealth management services to them, such as banks and investment firms and funds. Negotiators agreed on a 5 million euro threshold for assets under management.
Cash payments
Negotiators agreed on a Union-wide limit on large cash payments of 10 000 euro. This cash limit will be extended to payment service and electronic money providers. It will not apply to payments between natural persons who are not acting in a professional function.
Quotes
Eero HEINÄLUOMA (S&D, FI), the lead MEP on behalf of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee said: "The result is a historic win in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. Until today, the member states lost billions of euro. Stricter anti money laundering rules for cryptocurrencies, banks, trusts, oligarchs, and football were long overdue. One EU-harmonised framework will close national loopholes."
Damien CARÊME (GREENS/EFA, FR), the lead MEP on behalf of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee said: "The agreement reached yesterday will put an end to privileges for the richest and tighten the rules on the riskiest sectors, including football and the luxury goods industry. This is a major step forward in the fight against the money laundering scourge, which undermines public confidence in governments and economies."
Next steps
The deal needs to be formally adopted by Parliament and Council before it can come into force.
Context
In December 2023, Parliament and the Council negotiating teams reached a political agreement on establishing an Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA).
Contacts:
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Janne OJAMO
Press Officer