EU Steps Up Efforts to Combat Financial Crime

Strengthening Controls on Cash Transactions

The European Union has taken several measures to improve controls on cash entering or leaving the union in an effort to strengthen the fight against financial crime. According to a recent report by the European Commission, money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/FT) risks are affecting the internal market and relating to cross-border activities.

Enhanced Cooperation and Information Exchange

The commission has called for enhanced cooperation and information exchange between competent authorities supervising credit and financial institutions. This move aims to improve the sharing of intelligence and best practices to combat ML/FT.

EU’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism Framework

The EU’s anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) framework is based on a series of regulations, directives, and guidelines. These include:

The Fourth AML/CFT Directive
The fifth AML/CFT Directive, which transposed into Belgian law by the Law of 18 September 2017

Europol’s Role in Combating Financial Crime

Europol, the EU’s financial intelligence unit, has been working closely with its international partners to combat financial crime. The organization has issued several guidelines and recommendations on topics such as:

Beneficial ownership
Virtual assets
Digital identity

FATF Recommendations

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has issued several guidance documents on topics such as:

Risk-based supervision
Customer due diligence
Counter proliferation financing

International Efforts to Combat Financial Crime

The EU’s efforts to combat financial crime are part of a broader international effort. The FATF’s recommendations aim to set standards for countries to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority has issued an opinion on supervisory convergence in light of the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Union.

Protecting the Integrity of the EU’s Financial System

The EU’s anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism efforts are designed to protect the integrity of its financial system and prevent criminal activities such as:

Money laundering
Terrorist financing
Proliferation financing