The European Commission has today referred Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands to the Court of Justice of the European Union, with a request for financial sanctions, for failing to fully implement the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD4) into their national law.
Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said: “We
have robust EU rules in place but they must be applied consistently and
efficiently. We will make sure that everyone in both private and public
sectors applies the rules rigorously. We have launched many
infringement procedures to ensure the full transposition and application
of our rules.”
Following an assessment of the notified measures by these Member
States, the Commission has concluded AMLD4 has not been fully transposed
into national law. The incomplete transposition concerns fundamental
aspects of the anti-money laundering framework, such as betting and
gambling legislation (Austria), mechanisms under which the Financial
Intelligence Units exchange documents and information (Belgium), and the
information to be provided on the beneficial ownership of corporate and
other legal entities (Netherlands).
Background
All Member States had to implement the rules of the AMLD4 by 26 June
2017. After this deadline passed, the Commission opened infringement
proceedings against all Member States, as none of them had notified
complete transposition of AMLD4.
There are open infringement procedures on incomplete transposition
against eight Member States: three Member States have received Reasoned
Opinions, proceedings against two Member States are pending before the
Court, and today the Commission has decided to refer another three
Member States to the Court.
European Commission
© European Commission
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