Council adopted the fifth anti-money laundering directive

On 14 May 2018, the Council of the EU adopted the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (the 5MLD). The Council adopted the same wording of the directive as adopted by the European Parliament previously. The next step is for the 5MLD to be published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ).

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The main changes to be introduced by the 5MLD involve:

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• broadening access to information on beneficial ownership, improving transparency in the ownership of companies and trusts;

• addressing risks linked to prepaid cards and virtual currencies as well as including providers of exchange services between virtual currencies and fiat currencies into the list of obliged entities;

• cooperation between financial intelligence units;

• improved checks on transactions involving high-risk third countries.

The 5MLD enters into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the OJ. Member States have 18 months after its entry into force to transpose the directive into national legislation.