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The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing - a priority for the EU
May 25, 2005 12:00 AM
By Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP in European Parliament
By Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP in European Parliament
Sarah Ludford, on behalf of the ALDE Group . - Mr President, the fact that the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing is a political priority for the European Union is shown by the speedy progress of this measure. The Commission adopted the proposal for the third directive only about a year ago and today it is before us for decision. We have cooperated closely with the other institutions to complete it all in one reading. I pay a very sincere tribute to the skill and cooperative attitude of Mr Nassauer as the rapporteur. He has done a very good job.
The third directive brings in limited but useful changes from the second directive. The great improvement - the theme of this directive - is the clear emphasis on a risk-sensitive approach, so that there is a 'know-the-customer' obligation, including identifying the true owners of companies - the beneficial owners - which is higher if there is a higher risk of tainted funds. Obviously, it is necessary to apply stricter money-laundering controls in situations of higher risk, but I hope this will also mean slimming down with a simplified due diligence, as it is called, when possible. At present, there are thousands - perhaps even hundreds of thousands - of alerts of suspicious transactions every year across the EU. However, I fear that watchdogs often lose sight of the wood for the trees, and there needs to be more concentration on the really serious, suspicious transactions and breaking the criminal and terrorist financing networks.
I hope that in implementing the directive it will be possible for banks to be more proportionate and targeted in their checks so that individual honest citizens trying to open a bank account are not swamped in red tape, while the arms traffickers, criminal gangs and greedy dictators slip through the net.
The one, also useful, improvement is that this new directive will simplify the process, hopefully, for European citizens wanting to open a bank account in another EU country, as that bank will not have to carry out further identity checks. Therefore, it reduces bureaucratic burdens on EU citizens and marks a practical step in making a reality of living in Europe and crossing boundaries.
Finally, we reached a satisfactory solution on trusts, making clear that the widespread and valuable use of this Anglo-Saxon vehicle in commercial and financial markets will not be prejudiced so that the City of London can sleep peacefully at night knowing that markets like the International Bond Market will continue to innovate and prosper for the benefit of the European Union as a whole.
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