Brussels has set out plans to assume new pan-European powers to crack down on money laundering after a series of scandals rocked the region’s banking sector and exposed patchy enforcement across the bloc.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU executive vice-president who oversees financial services, told the Financial Times the commission would start consulting EU members over whether to create a new supervisor to oversee the anti-money laundering fight or instead hand additional powers to the European Banking Authority.
Setting out a new action plan, the commission called for the introduction of sweeping new regulations to address the divergent enforcement practices across the union that are the result of the reluctance in some EU capitals to implement anti-money laundering directives over the years.
Early next year the commission will additionally propose ways of enhancing information-sharing between different member states’ financial intelligence authorities. “If we want to be more effective, we need to do this at EU level,” Mr Dombrovskis said in a telephone interview ahead of the release of the plans. “Sometimes . . . issues were falling between two national authorities and none of the national authorities were really taking charge.”
The proposal for a new enforcement body, which would conduct on-site inspections and assess how legislation is implemented, would mark a significant expansion of Europe’s response to a wave of money-laundering scandals.
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