Summary: Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing (4AMLD)
WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?
- Directive (EU) 2015/849 (4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, 4AMLD) aims to combat money laundering [1] and the financing of terrorism [2] by preventing the financial market from being misused for these purposes.
- It replaces the previous Directive 2005/60/EC (3rd Anti-Money Laundering Directive, 3AMLD) that entered into force in 2007.
- Its purpose is to remove any ambiguities in the previous directive and associated legislation, and to improve the consistency of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules across all European Union (EU) Member States.
- The directive also takes into account the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force from 2012, which were revised in 2023.
- To reflect these updated recommendations, amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 introduces additional categories of virtual asset service providers not previously covered by the directive, which are defined in Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, the markets in crypto-assets regulation. Amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 also lays down rules to ensure that crypto-asset [3] service providers [4] are able to appropriately mitigate the money laundering and terrorist financing risks to which they are exposed.
KEY POINTS
The directive applies to:
- credit institutions;
- financial institutions;
- designated non-financial businesses and professions, such as:
- auditors,
- external accountants,
- tax advisors,
- notaries and lawyers, in certain circumstances,
- estate agents, when acting as intermediaries in the letting of immovable property for which the monthly rent exceeds €10,000,
- traders in goods (e.g. precious metals and stones, when payments of €10,000 or more are made in cash),
- art dealers, where the value of a transaction is €10,000 or more,
- providers of gambling services.
