Since 2017, a number of prominent cases have surfaced in the EU alleging the laundering of billions of euro through EU credit institutions, often with the involvement of professionals and undertakings operating outside the financial sector. After assessing the situation, the European Commission concluded that reforms of the EU’s AML/CFT regime were necessary.
In July 2021, the Commission presented an ambitious package of legislative proposals to strengthen the AML/CFT rules. The aim is to improve the detection of suspicious transactions and activities, and to close the loopholes used by criminals to launder illicit proceeds or finance terrorist activities through the financial system. The proposals are currently being discussed in both the European Parliament and the Council.
The ECA has audited this subject and published its
special report 13/2021 in June 2021:
'EU efforts to fight money laundering in the banking sector are fragmented and implementation is insufficient'. The ECA concluded that weaknesses with regard to money laundering and terrorist financing need to be addressed at EU level, and made recommendations to strengthen the EU’s supervisory role.
Under successive EU presidencies, the legislative process is still ongoing. However, the ECA considers it timely to take stock of the progress that has already been made, discuss legislators’ key concerns, and reiterate the needs and expectations both of those who will have to implement the legislation nationally, and of those who will be subject to it. This discussion will take place in the form of a high-level seminar, bringing policymakers from EU institutions and Member States together with representatives of national and EU banking supervisory bodies, national AML/CTF competent authorities, fiscal intelligence units, and other stakeholders.
Mihails Kozlovs, Dean of Chamber IV 'Regulation of markets and competitive economy', will host the seminar. Speakers with extensive expertise in AML/CTF issues, such as representatives from EU, national and international bodies and the financial sector, have agreed to participate.
The seminar will take place on 16 September 2022 at the ECA in Luxembourg. It will also be possible for participants to join on
MS Teams online or
follow the seminar on YouTube.
Outline of the seminar:
In the first part of the seminar 'EU level supervision and coordination – will the new set-up be future-proof?' we will look at the progress that has been made with the new AML/CTF legislative package, the co-legislators’ key concerns, the degree of possible future-proofing for the proposed EU AML/CTF supervision model in light of new developments (technology, market participants, etc.), and the potential for the new supervision model to be implemented effectively.
The second part of the seminar 'Coordination/interaction among the new AMLA, NCAs, FIUs, ECB, EBA - national level perspective; what is expected from the new set-up?' will be devoted to discussing the proposed new governance structure, its future effectiveness in terms of powers and the size and scope of supervised entities, and its coherence. We will also address cooperation among multiple national and EU supervisors, and the compliance burden this may entail for industry.