Banks in Ireland have welcomed an upcoming reform of the
European Union’s anti-money laundering regulations that will affect the
crypto space. The Irish banking industry organization voiced support for
the changes aimed at disrupting illicit transactions at the union level
while calling them “radical.”
New AML Body to Weed Out Suspicious Transactions in the EU, Irish Banks Say
Financial institutions in Ireland have expressed their positive
attitude towards intentions to reform the anti-money laundering
mechanisms of the European Union, the Irish daily Independent reported.
According to the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), the new AML authority the EU plans to create will weed out suspicious cross-border transactions in the bloc.
Quoted by the publication, Keith Gross, who heads financial crime and
security at the BPFI, noted that the proposed changes include a “set of
radical reforms that will greatly assist and bolster our members in
their daily and ongoing work – detecting, preventing and disrupting
money laundering and the financing of terrorism here in Ireland and
across the EU.”
Earlier this week, the European Commission put forward a set of legislative proposals
tailored to strengthen the EU’s anti-money laundering and countering
terrorism financing rules that will apply to the crypto sector. The
amendments are expected to ensure “full traceability of crypto-asset
transfers.” The legislation envisages the establishment of a new EU
Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA).
The regulations will oblige crypto exchanges, for example, to
identify the sellers and buyers of crypto assets. They will also limit
cash transactions across the union to €10,000. The new rules will affect
not only cryptocurrency platforms and banking institutions but will
extend the EU supervision over the legal, accounting, and real estate
sectors as well.
Under the existing regulatory framework, national authorities are
free to interpret AML rules and Ireland has been criticized by Brussels
for failing to properly oversee lawyers, accountants, and other agents
setting up trusts on behalf of clients. That’s despite Dublin having
three institutions responsible for combating AML offenses: the Garda
Financial Intelligence Unit, the Department of Justice, and the Central
Bank of Ireland.
The updated rules will be applicable across the European Union’s 27
member states. EU officials expect the AMLA authority to help prevent
money laundering and terrorist financing cases in the European Union by
“directly supervising and taking decisions towards some of the riskiest
cross-border financial sector obliged entities,” a media report quoting
EU documents revealed earlier this month.
source link : https://news.bitcoin.com/irish-banks-hail-eus-radical-anti-money-laundering-push/
