EU Proposes Establishment of a New AML Authority for Union
A new AML Authority specifically to the part of the state of the European region has been proposed to be established by the EU.
In an effort to respond against growing concerns over the breach of Anti-Money Laundering policies, the EU has proposed a new AML authority. It has been particularly suggested by the EU that a new AML authority will be established within the European region. The objective of the authority would be to ensure best practices and compliance with AML policies within the European nations.
A copy of the document containing the proposal was obtained by Reuters. The document suggested that the agency will function as the focal point between the agency and national regulatory and supervisory authorities of each nation.
Apparently, there is no regional authority within Europe for the time being. Because of the non-existence of such authority, Brussels has had to depend hugely upon national authorities for the enforcement of AML standards. However, the problem was faced by Brussels because there was a cooperation gap between the national authorities. Resultantly, there was a big gap in the enforcement of AML policies. This was leading the crimes such as terror funding, corruption, money laundering as well as activities of organized crime.
It is expected that the proposed agency will help the European Union in curtailing such activities. The agency will have the power to direct national authorities to ensure strict adherence to the AML policies. It has been further proposed by the EU that the directives issued by the agency will be binding upon each individual state.
The document with Reuters further revealed that the EU wants to provide for a new set of rules exclusively for the crypto exchanges. Exchanges will be obligated to collect data of their customers and record their transactional data. This data will then be provided by crypto exchanges to the relevant regulatory authority of their respective region. The regional authorities will then individual submit this data directly with the proposed EU agency for AML.
It has been noted by the EU that currently, the data collection process in each state is almost to none. As a result, the consumers and the inventors are exposed to great risks of being victimized by looters and fraudsters. EU also noted that this looted money is then utilized for terror funding, money laundering, and other crimes of serious nature.
Sven Giegold, who is European Parliament’s member, has suggested that the European Commission has devised a foolproof mechanism to prevent money laundering. Giegold also suggested that the Commission should adopt an extraordinary approach towards the implementation of AML policies in letter and spirit. He advised that the Commission must make accountable each individual state for strict adherence to AML policies. If anyone is found lame in the performance of their duties then strict action is taken by Commission through the initiation of legal proceedings.
