On 12 September 2018, the European Commission published amendments to a pending 2017 proposal to review the Regulations which govern the European Supervisory Authorities (an Amending Proposal).
The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing has been a priority for the EU, with recent efforts having been made through the adoption of the 4th and 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directives. The amendments introduced by the European Commission are intended to reinforce the mandate of the European Supervisory Authorities to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing in the financial services sector.
The 2017 proposal will give the European Banking Authority a leading and coordinating role in pursuing the European Commission's stated objectives to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, and the Amending Proposal is intended to extend and strengthen this mandate. Under the amended provisions, the European Banking Authority will be able to:
- collect information from competent authorities relating to weaknesses identified in the processes and procedures of financial sector operators put in place to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as measures put in place by competent authorities;
- develop and promote the implementation of common standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing; and
- monitor market developments and assess vulnerabilities to money laundering and terrorist financing in the financial sector.
Changes put forward by the European Commission also envisage enabling the European Banking Authority to take individual decisions addressed to financial-sector operators even where the material rules relating to the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing are not directly applicable to those financial-sector operators, including rules enshrined in national legislation transposing European directives and national legislation exercising options granted to Member States in the Regulations governing the European Supervisory Authorities.
The Amending Proposal also foresees that an Anti-Money Laundering Committee, composed of heads of Member States national competent authorities and bodies and observers from various EU institutions will be integrated into the European Banking Authority, with the purpose of coordination and cooperation on issues relating to anti-money laundering and terrorist financing.
The proposal will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council. The Amending Proposal can be found here:
http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-12111-2018-INIT/en/pdf
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