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.
The update aims to streamline coordination among member states in fighting terrorism financing and money laundering. Measures include introducing centralised bank and payment account registers in member states, harmonising the checks that banks and financial institutions make across the European Union, and easing the flow of information between member states’ financial intelligence units.
