The EU is homing in on dirty money

The EU is getting serious in the fight against dirty money. It is currently grappling with a huge legislative package in the domain of anti-money laundering (AML), a package that includes four proposals overall. Each needs to be carefully scrutinised to ensure that they bring real improvements. One of the most striking proposals is the creation of a new Anti-Money Laundering Agency (AMLA), to be operational by 2026. Many questions remain, however, on how it will ensure the better implementation of rules across the EU (and beyond) and guarantee closer cooperation between national competent authorities (NCAs) and financial intelligence units (FIUs), all envisioned within the European Commission’s proposal. This CEPS -ECRI Policy brief discusses the four individual proposals and dives deep into the subsequent questions that they raise, such as whether a new agency is really the best solution. It concludes that the European Parliament and the Council of the EU definitely have their work cut out for them to ensure that a well-functioning structure for AML supervision is the true end result of this arduous legislative process.

Karel Lannoo is CEO of CEPS and General Manager of ECRI