At the end of February, European lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to include new provisions in the European Union’s anti-money laundering rules in an attempt to improve transparency, prevent tax evasion and avoidance, and reduce the kinds of corporate vehicles that businesses—and terrorists—can use to disguise and hide dirty money.

Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal...