Nearly there – the Fourth EU Directive final draft

Just shy of two years since the first Commission draft was published, the negotiated final text of the Fourth European Union Money Laundering Directive (4MLD) emerged from the Council presidency on 12 January. [1] Not bad going given the sensitivities over tax crimes, PEP (politically exposed person) definition (the domestic kind will be subject to enhanced due diligence), data protection, and identifying beneficial owners of companies and trusts, to name but four, that had to be managed. It’s not over yet, though, as the EU Parliament now has to debate the latest wording and member states will then have 24 months to transpose the tuned directive into their national law. With a fair wind, it might be effective across the EU by the start of 2017.