EU anti-money laundering laws improperly implemented
In accordance with a new report released on December 21, 2006, the fight of the European Union against money laundering is not as successful as it could be because its member states improperly implement EU law across the bloc.
The study says that EU member states failed to create a consistent anti-money laundering regime across the European Union implementing the 2001 2nd money laundering directive. It stresses the necessity to maintain the integrity and effectiveness of the financial system creating an effective anti-money laundering regime.
The report indicates that there were major discrepancies in the directive’s scope and interpretation across the different EU member states, as well as points out that the way member states identified and reported suspicious transactions differed between countries. Also, some members are too slow to react to fishy money movements, which makes it impossible to fight them.
The 2001 2nd money laundering directive was meant to be implemented in 2003 for the 15 old EU members and in 2004 for its 10 new members. However, Italy was 6 months late while, but Greece implemented the law 2.5 years late.
Carrying out the study, the City of London was analysing how the directive was implemented in 6 countries – UK, Italy, Spain, Poland, Greece and Lithuania.
To conclude, European policy makers and regulators will strive to implement the 3rd money laundering directive in 2007.