1991L0308 — EN — 28.12.2001 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 10June 1991
on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering
(91 /308/EEC)
(OJ L 166, 28.6.1991, p. 77)
Amended by:
OfficialJournal
No page date
►M1 Directive 2001/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4
December 2001L 344 76 28.12.2001
NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of account and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999
should be understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) andCouncilRegul ation (EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).
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COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 10June 1991
on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of
money laundering
(91 /308/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 57 (2), first and third sentences,
and Article 100a thereof,
Having regard to the proposalfrom the Commission (1),
In cooperation with the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and SocialCommittee (3),
Whereas when credit and financialinstitutions are used to l aunder
proceeds from criminalactivities (hereinafter referred to as ‘moneylaundering’), the soundness and stability of the institution concerned and
confidence in the financial system as a whole could be seriously
jeopardized, thereby losing the trust of the public;
Whereas lack of Community action against money laundering could lead
Member States, for the purpose of protecting their financialsystems, toadopt measures which could be inconsistent with completion of thesingle market; whereas, in order to facilitate their criminal activities,launderers could try to take advantage of the freedom of capital
movement and freedom to supply financial services which the integrated
financialarea invol ves, if certain coordinating measures are not adoptedat Community level;
Whereas money laundering has an evident influence on the rise of
organized crime in generaland drug trafficking in particul ar; whereasthere is more and more awareness that combating money laundering isone of the most effective means of opposing this form of criminalactivity, which constitutes a particular threat to Member States'
societies;
Whereas money laundering must be combated mainly by penal means
and within the framework of internationalcooperation among judicialand law enforcement authorities, as has been undertaken, in the field ofdrugs, by the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic inNarcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, adopted on 19 December1988 in Vienna (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Vienna Convention’) and
more generally in relation to all criminal activities, by the Council of
Europe Convention on laundering, tracing, seizure and confiscation ofproceeds of crime, opened for signature on 8 November 1990 inStrasbourg;
Whereas a penal approach should, however, not be the only way to
combat money laundering, since the financial system can play a highlyeffective role; whereas reference must be made in this context to the
recommendation of the Councilof Europe of 27 June 1980 and to the
declaration of principles adopted in December 1988 in Basle by thebanking supervisory authorities of the Group of Ten, both of whichconstitute major steps towards preventing the use of the financialsystemfor money laundering;
Whereas money laundering is usually carried out in an international
context so that the criminalorigin of the funds can be better disguised;whereas measures exclusively adopted at a national level, without taking1991L0308 — EN — 28.12.2001 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 106, 28. 4. 1990, p. 6; and
OJ No C 319, 19. 12. 1990, p. 9.
(2) OJ No C 324, 24. 12. 1990, p. 264; and
OJ No C 129, 20. 5. 1991.
(3) OJ No C 332, 31. 12. 1990, p. 86.
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account of internationalcoordination and cooperation, woul d have very
limited effects;
Whereas any measures adopted by the Community in this field should be
consistent with other action undertaken in other internationalfora;whereas in this respect any Community action should take particular
account of the recommendations adopted by the financialaction task
force on money laundering, set up in July 1989 by the Paris summit ofthe seven most developed countries;
Whereas the European Parliament has requested, in several resolutions,
the establishment of a global Community programme to combat drugtrafficking, including provisions on prevention of money laundering;
Whereas for the purposes of this Directive the definition of money
laundering is taken from that adopted in the Vienna Convention;whereas, however, since money laundering occurs not only in relation tothe proceeds of drug-related offences but also in relation to the proceedsof other criminalactivities (such as organized crime and terrorism), the
Member States should, within the meaning of their legislation, extend
the effects of the Directive to include the proceeds of such activities, tothe extent that they are likely to result in laundering operations justifyingsanctions on that basis;
Whereas prohibition of money laundering in Member States' legislation
backed by appropriate measures and penalties is a necessary conditionfor combating this phenomenon;
Whereas ensuring that credit and financialinstitutions require identifica-
tion of their customers when entering into business relations orconducting transactions, exceeding certain thresholds, are necessary toavoid launderers' taking advantage of anonymity to carry out their
criminalactivities; whereas such provisions must al so be extended, as
far as possible, to any beneficial owners;
Whereas credit and financialinstitutions must keep for at l east five years
copies or references of the identification documents required as well as
supporting evidence and records consisting of documents relating totransactions or copies thereof similarly admissible in court proceedingsunder the applicable national legislation for use as evidence in anyinvestigation into money laundering;
Whereas ensuring that credit and financialinstitutions examine with
special attention any transaction which they regard as particularly likely,by its nature, to be related to money laundering is necessary in order to
preserve the soundness and integrity of the financialsystem as wel las to
contribute to combating this phenomenon; whereas to this end theyshould pay special attention to transactions with third countries which donot apply comparable standards against money laundering to thoseestablished by the Community or to other equivalent standards set out byinternationalfora and endorsed by the Community;
Whereas, for those purposes, Member States may ask credit and
financialinstitutions to record in writing the resul ts of the examination
they are required to carry out and to ensure that those results are
available to the authorities responsible for efforts to eliminate moneylaundering;
Whereas preventing the financialsystem from being used for money
laundering is a task which cannot be carried out by the authoritiesresponsible for combating this phenomenon without the cooperation ofcredit and financialinstitutions and their supervisory authorities;whereas banking secrecy must be lifted in such cases; whereas amandatory system of reporting suspicious transactions which ensures
that information is transmitted to the abovementioned authorities
without alerting the customers concerned, is the most effective way toaccomplish such cooperation; whereas a special protection clause isnecessary to exempt credit and financialinstitutions, their empl oyeesand their directors from responsibility for breaching restrictions on
disclosure of information;
Whereas the information received by the authorities pursuant to this
Directive may be used only in connection with combating money1991L0308 — EN — 28.12.2001 — 001.001 — 3
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laundering; whereas Member States may nevertheless provide that this
information may be used for other purposes;
Whereas establishment by credit and financial institutions of procedures
of internalcontroland training programmes in this fiel d are
complementary provisions without which the other measures contained
in this Directive could become ineffective;
Whereas, since money laundering can be carried out not only through
credit and financialinstitutions but al so through other types ofprofessions and categories of undertakings, Member States must extendthe provisions of this Directive in whole or in part, to include those
professions and undertakings whose activities are particularly likely to
be used for money laundering purposes;
Whereas it is important that the Member States should take particular
care to ensure that coordinated action is taken in the Community wherethere are strong grounds for believing that professions or activities theconditions governing the pursuit of which have been harmonized atCommunity level are being used for laundering money;
Whereas the effectiveness of efforts to eliminate money laundering is
particularly dependent on the close coordination and harmonization of
nationalimpl ementing measures; whereas such coordination andharmonization which is being carried out in various internationalbodiesrequires, in the Community context, cooperation between MemberStates and the Commission in the framework of a contact committee;
Whereas it is for each Member State to adopt appropriate measures and
to penalize infringement of such measures in an appropriate manner to
ensure full application of this Directive,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
For the purpose of this Directive:
(A) Credit institution means a credit institution, as defined in Article
1(1) first subparagraph of Directive 2000/12/EC (1) and includes
branches within the meaning of Article 1(3) of that Directive andlocated in the Community, of credit institutions having their headoffices inside or outside the Community;
(B) ‘Financialinstitution’ means:
1. an undertaking other than a credit institution whose principal
activity is to carry out one or more of the operations included innumbers 2 to 12 and number 14 of the list set out in Annex I toDirective 2000/12/EC; these include the activities of currencyexchange offices (bureaux de change) and of money transmis-
sion/remittance offices;
2. an insurance company duly authorised in accordance with
Directive 79/267/EEC (
2), insofar as it carries out activities
covered by that Directive;
3. an investment firm as defined in Article 1(2) of Directive 93/22/
EEC (3);
4. a collective investment undertaking marketing its units or shares.
This definition of financial institution includes branches located in
the Community of financialinstitutions, whose head offices areinside or outside the Community,1991L0308 — EN — 28.12.2001 — 001.001 — 4
(1) OJ L 126, 26.5.2000, p. 1. Directive as amended by Directive 2000/28/EC
(OJ L 275, 27.10.2000, p. 37).
(2) OJ L 63, 13.3.1979, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 95/26/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 168, 18.7.1995, p. 7).
(3) OJ L 141, 11.6.1993, p. 27. Directive as last amended by Directive 97/9/EC
of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 84, 26.3.1997, p. 22).▼M1
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(C) ‘Money laundering’ means the following conduct when committed
intentionally:
— the conversion or transfer of property, knowing that such
property is derived from criminalactivity or from an act ofparticipation in such activity, for the purpose of concealing ordisguising the illicit origin of the property or of assisting anyperson who is involved in the commission of such activity to
evade the legal consequences of his action;
— the concealment or disguise of the true nature, source, location,
disposition, movement, rights with respect to, or ownership of
property, knowing that such property is derived from criminalactivity or from an act of participation in such activity;
— the acquisition, possession or use of property, knowing, at the
time of receipt, that such property was derived from criminalactivity or from an act of participation in such activity;
— participation in, association to commit, attempts to commit and
aiding, abetting, facilitating and counselling the commission ofany of the actions mentioned in the foregoing indents.
Knowledge, intent or purpose required as an element of the
abovementioned activities may be inferred from objective factualcircumstances.
Money laundering shall be regarded as such even where the
activities which generated the property to be laundered were carried
out in the territory of another Member State or in that of a thirdcountry.
(D) ‘Property’ means assets of every kind, whether corporealor
incorporeal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, and
legal documents or instruments evidencing title to or interests insuch assets.
(E) ‘Criminalactivity’ means any kind of criminalinvol vement in the
commission of a serious crime.
Serious crimes are, at least:— any of the offences defined in Article 3(1)(a) of the Vienna
Convention;
— the activities of criminalorganisations as defined in Articl e 1 of
Joint Action 98/733/JHA (
1);
— fraud, at least serious, as defined in Article 1(1) and Article 2 of
the Convention on the protection of the European Communities'
financialinterests (2);
— corruption;
— an offence which may generate substantialproceeds and which
is punishable by a severe sentence of imprisonment in
accordance with the penall aw of the Member State.
Member States shall before 15 December 2004 amend the
definition provided for in this indent in order to bring this
definition into line with the definition of serious crime of JointAction 98/699/JHA. The Councilinvites the Commission topresent before 15 December 2004 a proposalfor a Directiveamending in that respect this Directive.
Member States may designate any other offence as a criminal
activity for the purposes of this Directive.
(F) ‘Competent authorities’ means the nationalauthorities empowered
by law or regulation to supervise the activity of any of the
institutions or persons subject to this Directive.
Article 2
Member States shall ensure that money laundering as defined in this
Directive is prohibited.1991L0308 — EN — 28.12.2001 — 001.001 — 5
(1) OJ L 351, 29.12.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 48.▼B
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Article 2a
Member States shall ensure that the obligations laid down in this
Directive are imposed on the following institutions:
1. credit institutions as defined in point A of Article 1;
2. financialinstitutions as defined in point B of Articl e 1;
and on the following legal or natural persons acting in the exercise of
their professionalactivities:
3. auditors, externalaccountants and tax advisors;
4. realestate agents;5. notaries and other independent legal professionals, when they
participate, whether:
(a) by assisting in the planning or execution of transactions for their
client concerning the
(i) buying and selling of real property or business entities;
(ii) managing of client money, securities or other assets;
(iii) opening or management of bank, savings or securities
accounts;
(iv) organisation of contributions necessary for the creation,
operation or management of companies;
(v) creation, operation or management of trusts, companies or
similar structures;
(b) or by acting on behalf of and for their client in any financial or
realestate transaction;
6. dealers in high-value goods, such as precious stones or metals, or
works of art, auctioneers, whenever payment is made in cash, and inan amount of EUR 15 000 or more;
7. casinos.
Article 3
1. Member States shall ensure that the institutions and persons
subject to this Directive require identification of their customers bymeans of supporting evidence when entering into business relations,particularly, in the case of the institutions, when opening an account orsavings accounts, or when offering safe custody facilities.
2. The identification requirement shall also apply for any transaction
with customers other than those referred to in paragraph 1, involving asum amounting to EUR 15 000 or more, whether the transaction iscarried out in a single operation or in several operations which seem tobe linked. Where the sum is not known at the time when the transaction
is undertaken, the institution or person concerned shall proceed with
identification as soon as it or he is apprised of the sum and establishesthat the threshold has been reached.
3. By way of derogation from the preceding paragraphs, the
identification requirements with regard to insurance policies writtenby insurance undertakings within the meaning of CouncilDirective 92/
96/EEC of 10 November 1992 on the coordination of laws, regulations
and administrative provisions relating to direct life assurance (third lifeassurance Directive) (
1), where they perform activities which fall within
the scope of that Directive shall not be required where the periodicpremium amount or amounts to be paid in any given year does or do notexceed EUR 1 000 or where a single premium is paid amounting to
EUR 2 500 or less. If the periodic premium amount or amounts to be
paid in any given year is or are increased so as to exceed the EUR 1 000threshold, identification shall be required.1991L0308 — EN — 28.12.2001 — 001.001 — 6
(1) OJ L 360, 9.12.1992, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2000/64/EC
of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 290, 17.11.2000, p. 27.)
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4. Member States may provide that the identification requirement is
not compulsory for insurance policies in respect of pension schemestaken out by virtue of a contract of employment or the insured's
occupation, provided that such policies contain no surrender clause and
may not be used as collateral for a loan.
5. By way of derogation from the preceding paragraphs, all casino
customers shall be identified if they purchase or sell gambling chips
with a value of EUR 1 000 or more.
6. Casinos subject to State supervision shall be deemed in any event
to have complied with the identification requirement laid down in this
Directive if they register and identify their customers immediately onentry, regardless of the number of gambling chips purchased.
7. In the event of doubt as to whether the customers referred to in the
above paragraphs are acting on their own behalf, or where it is certain
that they are not acting on their own behalf, the institutions and personssubject to this Directive shall take reasonable measures to obtaininformation as to the realidentity of the persons on whose behal f thosecustomers are acting.
8. The institutions and persons subject to this Directive shall carry out
such identification, even where the amount of the transaction is lowerthan the threshold laid down, wherever there is suspicion of moneylaundering.
9. The institutions and persons subject to this Directive shall not be
subject to the identification requirements provided for in this Articlewhere the customer is a credit or financialinstitution covered by this
Directive or a credit or financialinstitution situated in a third country
which imposes, in the opinion of the relevant Member States, equivalentrequirements to those laid down by this Directive.
10. Member States may provide that the identification requirements
regarding transactions referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 are fulfilled
when it is established that the payment for the transaction is to bedebited from an account opened in the customer's name with a creditinstitution subject to this Directive according to the requirements ofparagraph 1.
11. Member States shall, in any case, ensure that the institutions and
persons subject to this Directive take specific and adequate measuresnecessary to compensate for the greater risk of money laundering whicharises when establishing business relations or entering into a transaction
with a customer who has not been physically present for identification
purposes (‘non-face to face’ operations). Such measures shall ensure thatthe customer's identity is established, for example, by requiringadditionaldocumentary evidence, or suppl ementary measures to verifyor certify the documents supplied, or confirmatory certification by an
institution subject to this Directive, or by requiring that the first payment
of the operations is carried out through an account opened in thecustomer's name with a credit institution subject to this Directive. Theinternal control procedures laid down in Article 11(1) shall take specificaccount of these measures.
Article 4
Member States shall ensure that ►
M1the institutions and persons
subject to this Directive ◄keep the following for use as evidence in
any investigation into money laundering:
— in the case of identification, a copy or the references of the evidence
required, for a period of at least five years after the relationship with
their customer has ended,
— in the case of transactions, the supporting evidence and records,
consisting of the originaldocuments or copies admissibl e in courtproceedings under the applicable national legislation for a period ofat least five years following execution of the transactions.1991L0308 — EN — 28.12.2001 — 001.001 — 7
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Article 5
Member States shall ensure that ►M1the institutions and persons
subject to this Directive ◄examine with specialattention any
transaction which they regard as particularly likely, by its nature, to
be related to money laundering.
Article 6
1. Member States shall ensure that the institutions and persons
subject to this Directive and their directors and employees cooperatefully with the authorities responsible for combating money laundering:
(a) by informing those authorities, on their own initiative, of any fact
which might be an indication of money laundering;
(b) by furnishing those authorities, at their request, with all necessary
information, in accordance with the procedures established by theapplicable legislation.
2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be forwarded to
the authorities responsible for combating money laundering of the
Member State in whose territory the institution or person forwarding the
information is situated. The person or persons designated by theinstitutions and persons in accordance with the procedures provided forin Article 11(1)(a) shall normally forward the information.
3. In the case of the notaries and independent legal professionals
referred to in Article 2a(5), Member States may designate an appropriate
self-regulatory body of the profession concerned as the authority to be
informed of the facts referred to in paragraph 1(a) and in such case shalllay down the appropriate forms of cooperation between that body andthe authorities responsible for combating money laundering.
Member States shall not be obliged to apply the obligations laid down in
paragraph 1 to notaries, independent legal professionals, auditors,externalaccountants and tax advisors with regard to information they
receive from or obtain on one of their clients, in the course of
ascertaining the legal position for their client or performing their task ofdefending or representing that client in, or concerning judicialproceedings, including advice on instituting or avoiding proceedings,whether such information is received or obtained before, during or after
such proceedings.
Article 7
Member States shall ensure that the institutions and persons subject to
this Directive refrain from carrying out transactions which they know or
suspect to be related to money laundering until they have apprised theauthorities referred to in Article 6. Those authorities may, underconditions determined by their national legislation, give instructions notto execute the operation. Where such a transaction is suspected of giving
rise to money laundering and where to refrain in such manner is
impossible or is likely to frustrate efforts to pursue the beneficiaries of asuspected money-laundering operation, the institutions and personsconcerned shall apprise the authorities immediately afterwards.
Article 8
►
M11.◄►M1The institutions and persons subject to this
Directive ◄and their directors and employees shall not disclose to the
customer concerned nor to other third persons that information has been
transmitted to the authorities in accordance with Articles 6 and 7 or thata money laundering investigation is being carried out.
2. Member States shall not be obliged under this Directive to apply
the obligation laid down in paragraph 1 to the professions mentioned inthe second paragraph of Article 6(3).1991L0308 — EN — 28.12.2001 — 001.001 — 8
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Article 9
The disclosure in good faith to the authorities responsible for combating
money laundering by an institution or person subject to this Directive or
by an employee or director of such an institution or person of theinformation referred to in Articles 6 and 7 shall not constitute a breachof any restriction on disclosure of information imposed by contract or byany legislative, regulatory or administrative provision, and shall not
involve the institution or person or its directors or employees in liability
of any kind.
Article 10
Member States shall ensure that if, in the course of inspections carried
out in►
M1the institutions and persons subject to this Directive ◄by
the competent authorities, or in any other way, those authorities discoverfacts that could constitute evidence of money laundering, they inform
the authorities responsible for combating money laundering.
Member States shall ensure that supervisory bodies empowered by law
or regulation to oversee the stock, foreign exchange and financial
derivatives markets inform the authorities responsible for combatingmoney laundering if they discover facts that could constitute evidence ofmoney laundering.
Article 11
1. Member States shall ensure that the institutions and persons
subject to this Directive:
(a) establish adequate procedures of internal control and communication
in order to forestall and prevent operations related to money
laundering;
(b) take appropriate measures so that their employees are aware of the
provisions contained in this Directive. These measures shall include
participation of their relevant employees in special training
programmes to help them recognise operations which may berelated to money laundering as well as to instruct them as to how toproceed in such cases.
Where a natural person falling within any of Article 2a(3) to (7)
undertakes his professional activities as an employee of a legal person,the obligations in this Article shall apply to that legal person rather thanto the naturalperson.
2. Member States shall ensure that the institutions and persons
subject to this Directive have access to up-to-date information on the
practices of money launderers and on indications leading to therecognition of suspicious transactions.
Article 12
Member States shall ensure that the provisions of this Directive are
extended in whole or in part to professions and to categories ofundertakings, other than the ►
M1institutions and persons referred to
in Article 2a ◄, which engage in activities which are particularly likely
to be used for money-laundering purposes.
Article 13
1. A contact committee (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Committee’)
shall be set up under the aegis of the Commission. Its function shall be:
(a) without prejudice to Articles 169 and 170 of the Treaty, to facilitate
harmonized implementation of this Directive through regularconsultation on any practical problems arising from its applicationand on which exchanges of view are deemed useful;1991L0308 — EN — 28.12.2001 — 001.001 — 9
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(b) to facilitate consultation between the Member States on the more
stringent or additionalconditions and obl igations which they maylay down at national level;
(c) to advise the Commission, if necessary, on any supplements or
amendments to be made to this Directive or on any adjustmentsdeemed necessary, in particular to harmonize the effects of Article12;
(d) to examine whether a profession or a category of undertaking should
be included in the scope of Article 12 where it has been establishedthat such profession or category of undertaking has been used in aMember State for money laundering.
2. It shall not be the function of the Committee to appraise the merits
of decisions taken by the competent authorities in individualcases.
3. The Committee shall be composed of persons appointed by the
Member States and of representatives of the Commission. Thesecretariat shall be provided by the Commission. The chairman shallbe a representative of the Commission. It shall be convened by itschairman, either on his own initiative or at the request of the delegationof a Member State.
Article 14
Each Member State shall take appropriate measures to ensure full
application of all the provisions of this Directive and shall in particular
determine the penalties to be applied for infringement of the measuresadopted pursuant to this Directive.
Article 15
The Member States may adopt or retain in force stricter provisions in the
field covered by this Directive to prevent money laundering.
Article 16
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
administrative decisions necessary to comply with this Directive before1 January 1993 at the latest.
2. Where Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a
reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on
the occasion of their officialpubl ication. The methods of making such a
reference shall be laid down by the Member States.
3. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of
the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the fieldgoverned by this Directive.
Article 17
One year after 1 January 1993, whenever necessary and at least at three
yearly intervals thereafter, the Commission shall draw up a report on theimplementation of this Directive and submit it to the European
Parliament and the Council.
Article 18
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.1991L0308 — EN — 28.12.2001 — 001.001 — 10