The European Parliament approved the fourth anti-money laundering directive on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing on 20 May. Its aim is to strengthen the existing framework on tax evasion and terrorist financing.

The directive was published as L141 in the EU's Official Gazette on 5 June.

The directive noted that flows of illicit money damages the integrity and stability of the EU's financial sector and that money laundering, financing terrorism and organised crime are significant problems that should be addressed at EU level. Noting the international scope of the problem, the EU stated that: “Measures adopted solely at national or even at Union level, without taking into account international coordination and cooperation, would have very limited effect.”

High-value payments are pinpointed as being particularly at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing and those making or receiving payments worth €10,000 or more will be affected by the directive. It also obliges EU members states to keep central registers of information on the ultimate "beneficial" owners of corporate and other legal entities, as well as trusts. These central registers were not envisaged in the European Commission’s initial proposal, but were included by MEPs in negotiations.

The text also sets out specific reporting obligations for banks, auditors, lawyers, real estate agents and casinos, among others, on suspicious transactions made by their clients.

According to the European Parliament, member states will have two years to transpose the anti-money laundering directive into their national laws. The transfers of funds regulation will be directly applicable in all member states 20 days after its publication in the EU Official Journal.