New EU rules to thwart money laundering and terrorist financing
12 september 2018
Today, MEPs approved new measures to combat terrorist financing, by preventing money laundering and tightening cash flow checks, on Wednesday.
The two laws will make it harder for terrorists and criminals to finance their activities, by closing the loopholes in the current money laundering rules and by making it easier for the authorities to detect and stop suspicious financial flows.
The new rules to prevent money laundering introduce: EU-wide definitions of money laundering-related crimes, EU-wide minimum penalties, such as a minimum of four years of imprisonment for money laundering maximum sentences, and new additional sanctions, such as barring those convicted of money laundering from running for public office, holding a position of public servant and excluding them from access to public funding.
The new rules on cash flows: extend the definition of cash to include gold and anonymous prepaid electronic cash cards, enable authorities to register information about cash movements below the current €10,000 threshold and to temporarily seize cash if they suspect criminal activity, and require disclosure of unaccompanied cash sent by cargo or post.
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