The European Parliament announced on 12 September 2018 that it has approved new measures aimed at making it harder for terrorists and criminals to finance their activities by closing loopholes in current European Union anti-money laundering rules.

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The new rules to prevent money laundering introduce EU-wide definitions of money laundering-related crimes, minimum penalties for such crimes, and new additional sanctions, such as barring those convicted of money laundering from running for public office, holding a position of public servant and excluding them from access to public funding. 

 

The new rules on cash flows extend the definition of cash to include gold and anonymous prepaid electronic cash cards, enable authorities to register information about cash movements below the current €10,000 threshold and to temporarily seize cash if they suspect criminal activity, and require disclosure of unaccompanied cash sent by cargo or post.

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The new measures now require formal approval by the European Council. EU member states will then have two years to implement the rules on money laundering and 30 months to apply the cash controls directive.

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