On July 24, the European Commission (EC) published a suite of documents assessing the current anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) framework in operation in the European Union (EU).

Although each document is addressed to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, the EC states that it believes that these documents will support the EU and national authorities to better address money laundering and terrorist financing risks. It notes that some improvements can be made quickly at an operational level, and the EC will continue to support EU member states in this, while also reflecting on how to address the remaining structural challenges.

Notably, the EC also states that the documents will serve as a basis for future policy choices and legislative developments in the EU on how to further strengthen the EU AML and CTF framework.

The documents include:

  • communication towards better implementation of the EU’s AML and CTF framework—with commentary on the divergences in approach between different EU countries and a proposal to replace the EU Money Laundering Directives with a maximum harmonization Regulation, to ensure all EU counties have exactly the same rules;
  • supranational risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks affecting the EU;
  • report assessing recent alleged money laundering cases involving EU banks (including Danske Bank and Deutsche Bank);
  • report assessing EU member states’ financial intelligence units co-operation framework (and the lack of cooperation in practice, with a recommendation for the establishment of a new coordination and support mechanism);
  • report on the interconnection of national central bank account registries and data retrieval systems; and
  • related Q&As.

The documents are available online at: