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Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing

Europe

This section covers AML/CTF initiatives by European Commission, Council of Europe MONEYVAL, European Parliament, Europol and other related EU organisations.

New EU AML Package
Sixth EU ML Directive
Fifth EU ML Directive 
Fourth EU ML Directive 
Third EU ML Directive
European Commission Financial Crime
European Parliament Committee on Organised Crime, Corruption and ML
European Banking Federation Annual Overview of AML legislative measures
Europol Law Enforcement updates
MONEYVAL Evaluations
MONEYVAL Typologies

And many more…

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EBA consults on draft standards for prudential treatment of crypto asset exposures, aiming to harmonise capital requirements across EU FIs, ensuring alignment with Basel standards

January 8, 2025

The European Banking Authority has issued a consultation on the draft regulatory technical standards regarding the calculation and aggregation of crypto exposure values under Article 501d(5) of the CRR. This includes guidelines for financial institutions to calculate their capital requirements for crypto-asset exposures including tokenized traditional assets and other crypto-assets.The consultation seeks feedback to ensure effective regulation of crypto asset…

Reuters: Portugal’s Novo Banco fires Chief Risk Officer over ‘suspicious transactions,’ reports matter to regulator

January 7, 2025

Novo Banco has dismissed its chief risk officer, Carlos Jorge Ferreira Brandao following an internal investigation and reported concerns about his conduct to Portugal’s banking regulator. The bank also filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has initiated an investigation. Novo Banco clarified that the suspected issue is not connected to the bank or its operations…

AML Intelligence: Malta’s FIAU chief Alfred Zammit discusses 2025 priorities and navigating legal challenges

January 7, 2025

Alfred Zammit, director of Malta’s FIAU is keen for a European court case against the agency to clarify its authority to impose penalties. He highlighted the FIAU’s efforts to strengthen ties with law enforcement, sharing more intelligence to support ML investigations. Zammit emphasized the agency’s focus on enhancing collaboration and efficiency in tackling financial crime…

EPPO Spain dismantles a transnational criminal network involving €17m VAT fraud through luxury car sales, leading to the arrest of 30 individuals

January 7, 2025

Thirty arrests were made and assets worth €11 million were seized, including cars, properties, and cash. The operation supported by German and Spanish authorities revealed a complex system of shell companies used for tax evasion and ML with over 200 bank accounts blocked across multiple countries…

 

 

 

MONEYVAL re-rates Poland on Recommendations 1 and 33, in recognition of its corrective actions since the adoption of the MER and 1st enhanced FUR

December 22, 2024

Recommendation 1 outlines requirement for a risk-based approach, while Recommendation 33 states that countries should maintain comprehensive statistics on the effectiveness and efficiency of their AML/CFT systems. Requests for re-ratings on Recommendations 15 and 26 were analysed, but no changes were granted.

 

OCCRP investigation confiscated $2 m from a diamond company while Ukrainian authorities raided the warehouses over a scandal involving inflated food prices sold to the military

December 20, 2024

Kut’s warehouses are tied to the scheme and Hlyniana’s companies are under investigation for tax evasion and money laundering. Neither woman has been formally charged but both are under scrutiny in their respective countries…

EPPO Germany led a large-scale VAT fraud investigation, code-named ´Huracán, resulting in the conviction of 3 individuals for organised VAT fraud, and abetting tax fraud

December 19, 2024

The Regional Court in Düsseldorf sentenced one defendant to four years in prison while the others received sentences of three years and nine months and three years respectively. The court also ordered the confiscation of €7.4 million in assets and the successful transfer of €1.7 million in seized cash to the state treasury. The defendants have one week to file an appeal…

 

 

 

EU MEPs confirms Bruna Szego as the Chair of the EU AML Authority (AMLA)

December 18, 2024

Bruna Szego who currently leads the AML supervision and regulation unit at the Bank of Italy received strong support with 569 votes in favour 20 against, and 61 abstentions. Based in Frankfurt the AMLA is tasked with coordinating national financial intelligence units and directly supervising high-risk financial entities operating across multiple EU member states. Her appointment as Chair of the AMLA now awaits approval from a qualified majority…

 

Europol, with 6 nations, dismantle underground banking networks linked to drug trafficking, seizing €27m in cryptocurrency and valuables, highlighting innovative ML methods and global cooperation

December 18, 2024

Building on the findings from two major investigations, Operation GORGON and Operation WHITEWALL, this follow-up operation involved close collaboration between Europol’s experts in serious and organised crime and in financial investigations. It led to the arrest of nine suspects and the seizure of evidence (documents, mobile phones), valuables (gold, luxury goods), EUR 35 000 in cash and EUR 27 million in cryptocurrencies…

 

Eurojust addresses criminal group disrupting public services by stealing power cables has been arrested

December 18, 2024

A criminal group, mainly Bulgarian nationals orchestrated large-scale power cable thefts in three German states generating about 1 million euros in profits. After German authorities traced the group’s activities to Bulgaria a joint operation with Eurojust and Europol led to the arrest of eight suspects five in Bulgaria and three in Germany. Authorities seized valuable evidence during extensive raids in both countries including phones and documents…

Europol’s analysis reveals that 86% criminal networks exploit legal business structures for ML and illicit activities

December 18, 2024

Europol’s latest report reveals widespread abuse of legitimate business structures (LBS) across high-risk sectors like financial services, real estate, and tech, with methods including VAT carousel fraud, subsidy fraud, and cyber-enabled ML, leveraging cryptocurrency and global tech infrastructure to obscure illicit operations…

 

Dutch prosecutors drop ML cases against former executives of ING and ABN Amro, citing insufficient evidence despite lengthy investigations

December 18, 2024

Despite both banks facing significant fines, ING in 2018 and ABN AMRO in 2021—prosecutors found insufficient evidence to hold the individuals criminally accountable for the lapses in their oversight…

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