Report on the interconnection of national centralised automated mechanisms of the Member States on bank accounts

Summary:

Report presented on 24 July 2019 by the European Commission as part of a package aimed at supporting European and national authorities in better addressing money laundering and terrorist financing risks.

Further information:

Access by competent authorities to central bank account registers or retrieval systems would facilitate the cross-border cooperation involved in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and other serious crimes.

Article 32a of Directive 2015/849/EU (the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive) requires Member States to put in place by 10 September 2020 national centralised automated mechanisms, such as central registries or central electronic data retrieval systems, which allow the identification of any natural or legal persons holding or controlling payments accounts, bank accounts and safe deposit boxes.

This report assesses the various IT solutions at EU level, already operational or currently under development, which may serve as models for a possible interconnection of the centralised mechanisms.

This report is one of a set of four reports accompanied by the Commission Communication 'Towards better implementation of the EU’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism framework'.

Official

European Commission: Press Release, 24/07/2019: Fight against money laundering and terrorist financing: Commission assesses risks and calls for better implementation of the rules http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-4452_en.htm

---