On July 20, 2021, the European Commission published its long-awaited legislative package titled “Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism” as announced in the Commission’s 2020 Action Plan for a comprehensive EU policy on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF).
As expected, the proposals seek to harmonize the application of more detailed anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) rules, by suggesting to create an EU-level AML authority, to strengthen the supervisory framework and further harmonize and detail EU AML/CFT rules, and to adapt such rules to digitalization and technological innovation. Further, in promoting higher disclosure and transparency requirements, the proposed legislation could have far-reaching consequences in relation to those transacting or using cryptocurrencies.
In this Client Alert, we provide an overview of the four Commission proposals, including the creation of a new EU AML Authority (AMLA).
For more on this subject, click here to read the full Steptoe Client Alert or contact a member of Steptoe’s Brussels team.