Directive 2001/97 - Amendment of Council Directive 91/308/EEC on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering - Commission Declaration - Main contents

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Legal instrument	Directive
Number legal act	Directive 2001/97
Original proposal	COM(1999)352
CELEX number i	32001L0097

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Directive 2001/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2001 amending Council Directive 91/308/EEC on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering - Commission Declaration

Official Journal L 344 , 28/12/2001 P. 0076 - 0082

Directive 2001/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 4 December 2001

amending Council Directive 91/308/EEC on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 47(2), first and third sentences, and Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(3), in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 18 September 2001,

Whereas:

• (1) 

  It is appropriate that Directive 91/308/EEC(4), hereinafter referred to as "the Directive", as one of the main international instruments in the fight against money laundering, should be updated in line with the conclusions of the Commission and the wishes expressed by the European Parliament and the Member States. In this way the Directive should not only reflect best international practice in this area but should also continue to set a high standard in protecting the financial sector and other vulnerable activities from the harmful effects of the proceeds of crime.

• (2) 

  The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) allows Members to adopt measures necessary to protect public morals and to adopt measures for prudential reasons, including for ensuring the stability and integrity of the financial system. Such measures should not impose restrictions that go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives.

• (3) 

  The Directive does not establish clearly which Member State's authorities should receive suspicious transaction reports from branches of credit and financial institutions having their head office in another Member State nor which Member State's authorities are responsible for ensuring that such branches comply with the Directive. The authorities of the Member States in which the branch is located should receive such reports and exercise the above responsibilities.

• (4) 

  This allocation of responsibilities should be set out clearly in the Directive by means of an amendment to the definition of "credit institution" and "financial institution".

• (5) 

  The European Parliament has expressed concerns that the activities of currency exchange offices ("bureaux de change") and money transmitters (money remittance offices) are vulnerable to money laundering. These activities should already fall within the scope of the Directive. In order to dispel any doubt in this matter the Directive should clearly confirm that these activities are covered.

• (6) 

  To ensure the fullest possible coverage of the financial sector it should also be made clear that the Directive applies to the activities of investment firms as defined in Council Directive 93/22/EEC of 10 May 1993 on investment services in the securities field(5).

• (7) 

  The Directive obliges Member States only to combat the laundering of the proceeds of drugs offences. There has been a trend in recent years towards a much wider definition of money laundering based on a broader range of predicate or underlying offences, as reflected for example in the 1996 revision of the 40 Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the leading international body devoted to the fight against money laundering.

• (8) 

  A wider range of predicate offences facilitates suspicious transaction reporting and international...

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