FantasticSearch

(1) Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council constitutes the main legal instrument for the prevention of the use of the Union’s financial system for the purposes of money laundering and terrorist financing. That Directive sets out a comprehensive legal framework, which Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and the Council further strengthened by addressing emerging money laundering and terrorist financing risks and increasing transparency of beneficial ownership. Notwithstanding the achievements under that legal framework, experience has shown that further improvements should be introduced to adequately mitigate money laundering and terrorist financing risks and to effectively detect criminal attempts to misuse the Union’s financial system for criminal purposes.

(2) The main challenge identified in respect of the application of the provisions of Directive (EU) 2015/849 that lay down obligations for obliged entities, is the lack of direct applicability of the rules set out in those provisions and a fragmented approach along national lines. Although those rules have existed and evolved over three decades, they are still implemented in a manner not fully consistent with the requirements of an integrated internal market. Therefore, it is necessary that rules on matters currently covered in Directive (EU) 2015/849 which could be directly applicable by the obliged entities concerned are addressed in a Regulation in order to achieve the desired uniformity of application.

(3) This new instrument is part of a comprehensive package that aims to strengthen the Union’s framework for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (‘AML/CFT’). Together, this Regulation, Directive (EU) 2024/1640 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulations (EU) 2023/1113 and (EU) 2024/1620 of the European Parliament and of the Council will form the legal framework governing the AML/CFT requirements to be met by obliged entities and underpinning the Union’s AML/CFT institutional framework, including the establishment of an Authority for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AMLA).

(4) Money laundering and terrorist financing are frequently carried out in an international context. Measures adopted at Union level, without taking into account international coordination and cooperation, would have very limited effect. The measures adopted by the Union in that field should therefore be compatible with, and at least as stringent as, actions undertaken at international level. Union action should continue to take particular account of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations and instruments of other international bodies active in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. With a view to reinforcing the efficacy of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, the relevant Union legal acts should, where appropriate, be aligned with the International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation adopted by the FATF in February 2012 (the ‘revised FATF Recommendations’) and the subsequent amendments to such standards.

(5) Since the adoption of Directive (EU) 2015/849, recent developments in the Union’s criminal law framework have contributed to strengthening the prevention of and fight against money laundering, its predicate offences and terrorist financing. Directive (EU) 2018/1673 of the European Parliament and of the Council has led to a common understanding of the money laundering crime and its predicate offences. Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council defined financial crimes affecting the Union’s financial interest, which should also be considered predicate offences to money laundering. Directive (EU) 2017/541 of the European Parliament and of the Council has achieved a common understanding of the crime of terrorist financing. As those concepts are now clarified in Union criminal law, it is no longer necessary for the Union’s AML/CFT rules to define money laundering, its predicate offences or terrorist financing. Instead, the Union’s AML/CFT framework should be fully coherent with the Union’s criminal law framework.

(6) Harmonisation in the relevant area of criminal law enables a strong and coherent approach at Union level to the prevention of and fight against money laundering and its predicate offences, including corruption. At the same time, such an approach ensures that Member States that have adopted a broader approach to the definition of criminal activities which constitute predicate offences for money laundering can continue to apply such an approach. For that reason, in line with Directive (EU) 2018/1673, any kind of punishable involvement in the commission of a predicate offence for money laundering as criminalised in accordance with national law should also be considered as a criminal activity for the purposes of that Directive and of this Regulation.

(7) Technology keeps evolving, offering opportunities to the private sector to develop new products and systems to exchange funds or value. While this is a positive phenomenon, it can generate new money laundering and terrorist financing risks, as criminals continuously manage to find ways to exploit vulnerabilities in order to hide and move illicit funds around the world. Crypto-asset service providers and crowdfunding platforms are exposed to the misuse of new channels for the movement of illicit money and are well placed to detect such movement and mitigate risks. The scope of Union legislation should therefore be expanded to cover such entities, in line with FATF standards in relation to crypto-assets. At the same time, advances in innovation, such as the development of the metaverse, provide new avenues for the perpetration of crimes and for the laundering of their proceeds. It is therefore important to exercise vigilance as regards the risks associated with the provision of innovative products or services, whether at Union or national level or at the level of obliged entities.

(8) The institutions and persons covered by this Regulation play a crucial role as gatekeepers of the Union’s financial system and should therefore take all necessary measures to implement the requirements of this Regulation with a view to preventing criminals from laundering the proceeds of their illegal activities or from financing terrorism. Measures should also be put in place to mitigate any risk of non-implementation or evasion of targeted financial sanctions.

(9) The definition of an insurance intermediary under Directive (EU) 2016/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council covers a broad range of natural or legal persons that take up or pursue the activity of insurance distribution. Some insurance intermediaries take up insurance distribution activities under the full responsibility of insurance undertakings or intermediaries and carry out activities subject to their policies and procedures. Where those intermediaries do not collect premia or amounts intended for the customer, the policy holder or the beneficiary of the insurance policy, they are not in a position to conduct meaningful due diligence or to detect and report suspicious transactions. In view of that limited role and of the fact that full application of AML/CFT requirements is ensured by the insurance undertakings or intermediaries under whose responsibility they provide services, intermediaries that do not handle funds as defined in Article 4, point (25), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council should not be considered obliged entities for the purposes of this Regulation.

(10) Holding companies that carry out mixed activities and have at least one subsidiary that is an obliged entity should themselves be included as obliged entities in the scope of this Regulation. To ensure consistent supervision by financial supervisors, in cases where the subsidiaries of a mixed activity holding company include at least one credit institution or financial institution, the holding company itself should also qualify as a financial institution.

(11) Financial transactions can also take place within the same group as a way of managing group finances. However, such transactions are not undertaken vis-à-vis customers and do not require the application of AML/CFT measures. In order to ensure legal certainty, it is necessary to recognise that this Regulation does not apply to financial activities or other financial services which are provided by members of a group to other members of that group.