Combating money laundering and terrorist financing: towards the adoption of new rules 

The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing is a major issue in the European Union. The European Council today adopted a set of new rules designed to strengthen the fight against money laundering. The aim is to protect EU citizens and secure the financial system against this threat. 

The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing: what are the current regulations?

Money laundering and terrorist financing are central concerns for the European Union. They threaten its economy and financial system, but also the security of its citizens.

From 1991The EU has placed the fight against these threats at the heart of its political priorities through a first anti-money laundering directive. Since then, revisions have been made on a regular basis to adapt to the current context. 

To cover all emerging risks effectively, EU rules cover three main areas: 

• L'technological innovation particularly with the rise of virtual currencies
• There global nature terrorist organisations 
• L'ingéniositThe ability of criminals to identify and exploit system vulnerabilities 

Who is responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules? 

To ensure compliance with the rules in force, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was created in 1989 by the G7. 
Its aim? To establish the main international standards for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. 

This group enables member countries to share best practices. Members regularly assess each other to ensure that the standards are being properly applied. In this way, they improve their efficiency. 

To protect the international financial system, the FATF draws up lists of vulnerable jurisdictions. These are divided into two main groups: 

• THE jurisdictions under surveillance - grey list 
• THE high-risk jurisdictions - black list 

What are the new rules in force?

In order to strengthen the security of EU citizens, the Council has put in place the following measures new legislation. Why? To protect the European financial system against the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. Read on to find out more. 

A limit on the amount of cash payments

Within the EU cash payments will be limited to a maximum of €10,000. The aim of the new regulations is to make it more difficult for criminals to launder money. 

New identity vigilance measures 

The proposed new laws introduce due diligence measures and identity checks on customers. 

The entities concerned, such as banks, THE asset managers, THE platforms from crypto-assets and the online estate agentsare now required to report any suspicious activity to the Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). 

In addition, it should be noted that from 2029, the leading professional football clubs will also be subject to these rules. When involved in major financial transactions with investors, sponsors, advertisers or during player transfers, these clubs will have to check the identity of their clients, monitor financial transactions and report any suspicious transactions to the FIU. 

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The creation of a new European agency 

A new entity has been set up to strengthen the supervision of anti-money laundering rules, the Authority for Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism (ALBC)will be set up in Frankfurt. 

This authority will have several key responsibilities: 

• Supervise directly financial entities considered most at risk
• Serve with point of reference and mediator for supervisory authorities in the event of disputes or conflicts between them 
• Managing the implementation of financial penalties in the EU 

These new functions will strengthen the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing throughout the EU.

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