European Union lawmakers have adopted a new draft law that would impose a 1,000 euro ($1,083) cap on anonymous crypto asset transfers in an effort to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to the statement of the European Parliament published on March 28, the restriction will apply to the transfer of crypto assets in cases where the customer cannot be identified. Cash transactions will also be closed at 7,000 euros ($7,585).
The AML/CTF package is set to be confirmed at the plenary session in April. After that, negotiations on the final form of the bill will begin, he said.
Today there is an important vote @Europarl_EN in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
This concerns mainly in #NFT and crypto platforms. Thread pic.twitter.com/qP95NsQ3Cw
— Aurore Lalucq (@AuroreLalucq) March 28, 2023
It is noted that the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which was formed in June 2022, will implement these rules.
“For us, it is important that the new authority cooperates closely with national supervisors and directly monitors the riskiest crypto asset service providers and companies in the financial sector operating in several member states,” said Emil Radev, co-rapporteur for AMLA.
The text related to the use of anonymous instruments, including crypto assets, was strongly approved by the parliamentarians – “with 99 votes to 8 and 6 abstentions.”
The newly adopted text indicates that the introduction of the bill requires a higher level of transparency and compliance, especially from crypto asset managers. It noted:
“Entities, such as banks, asset and crypto asset managers, real and virtual agents and high-level professional football clubs, will be required to verify the identity of customers, what they own and who controls the company.”
It is also noted that the industry must assess certain types of risks related to money laundering and terrorist financing in the business area and submit this relevant information to a centralized registry.
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This comes after the European Banking Federation (EBF) published a paper on March 28 detailing its vision of the future digital money ecosystem, and specifically the retail digital euro.
The EBF proposes a three-tier model for the digital euro, including the role of the European Central Bank and two industrial tiers – the first in connection with the single Euro Payments Area and “Industrial Tier B” to be developed and operated by the private sector.
In related news, the final vote on the European Union’s crypto regulation, known as the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, was recently postponed until April 2023.
This is not the first time that European parliamentarians have postponed the procedure again, as they previously rejected it from November 2022 to February 2023.
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