The European Parliament has announced that it has endorsed the fourth anti-money laundering directive (AMLD).
The new directive will 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. The directive further contains specific reporting obligations for, among others, banks, auditors, lawyers, real estate agents and casinos regarding suspicious transactions made by their clients.
The central registers are intended to be accessible to the authorities and their financial intelligence units, “obliged entities” (for instance banks carrying out customer due diligence) and the public (subject to certain registration and payment conditions).
In addition, the European Parliament has approved a transfers of funds regulation aimed at improving the traceability of payers and payees and their assets.
Member States will have two years to transpose the new directive into their national laws. The transfers of funds regulation will be directly applicable in all Member States 20 days after its publication in the EU Official Journal.
At the time of writing the final texts of the directive and the regulation had not yet been published.
