A4-0187/96

Resolution on the first Commission report to the European Parliament and the Council on implementation of Directive 91/308/EEC on money laundering (COM(95)0054 - C4-0137/95)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Council Directive 91/308/EEC of 10 June 1991 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering ((OJ L 166, 28.6.1991, p. 77.)),

- having regard to the first Commission report on the implementation of the Money Laundering Directive to be submitted to the European Parliament and to the Council (COM(95)0054 - C4-0137/95),

- having regard to the Council of Europe Convention on laundering, tracing, seizure and confiscation of proceeds of crime concluded in Strasbourg in 1990,

- having regard to the UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances concluded in Vienna in 1988,

- having regard to the recommendations on money laundering adopted by the Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs at its meeting in Copenhagen on 1-2 June 1993,

- having regard to the opinion of experts in the fields of banking supervision and prosecution who reported at the meeting of 20 December 1995 of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights and the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs on the problems of implementing and transposing the Directive in practice,

- having regard to the Council Act drawing up the Convention based on Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union on the establishment of a European Police Office (Europol Convention) ((OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 1.)),

- having regard its resolution of 14 March 1996 on Europol ((OJ C 96, 1.4.1996, p. 288.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights and the opinions of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs, the Committee on Budgetary Control and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A4-0187/96),

A. whereas financial transactions connected with criminal activities are continuing,

B. whereas the European Union's system for combating money laundering is inadequate and in particular does not sufficiently cater for new forms of financial transaction,

C. whereas both within states and at European level new legislative measures are required to ensure comprehensive supervision of all natural and legal persons involved in the commercial conduct of financial transactions,

D. whereas the 1990 Strasbourg Convention already contains provisions on legal assistance which would make it possible to combat the economic use of proceeds of crime efficiently at European level,

E. whereas, although Title VI of the Treaty on European Union contains adequate provisions on cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs, there is no sign of comprehensive legislative activities being carried out to improve coordination of the work of judicial and police authorities at European level,

F. in the belief that the rapid establishment of a European Police Office pursuant to the Europol Convention could make a major contribution to effective measures to combat money laundering and the crimes giving rise to it,

G. whereas, in its recommendations of 1993, the Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs described both the ratification and implementation of the 1990 Strasbourg Convention and the involvement of Europol as important steps to combat money laundering,

1. Calls on the Commission to ensure full transposition of the Directive and submit within the next two years a detailed report indicating the number of transactions reported, the number of proven cases of money laundering, the number of people convicted and the amounts confiscated;

2. Takes the view that the European Union's system for combating money laundering should be organized more efficiently and adapted in accordance with technical developments in financial transactions;

3. Calls on the Commission, therefore, to report on new types of money laundering arising from changes in business practices and money transfers, and to submit appropriate proposals for combating it as part of a revision of the Directive;

4. Calls on the Commission, taking account of the preliminary work of the Contact Committee, to submit a proposal for a revision of the Directive as quickly as possible, and not later than 6 March 1998, to include within its direct scope those occupations and types of enterprise which can definitely be considered to be involved or likely to be involved directly or indirectly in money laundering;

5. Calls on the Member States, insofar as they have not already done so, to extend their legislation on combating money laundering not only to money derived from drugs trafficking but to all money acquired from professional and organized crime;

6. Welcomes the Commission's aim of making explicit and binding reference to the provisions of the money laundering directive in all future partnership and association agreements and stepping up cooperation with the respective contracting parties in this field;

7. Calls on the Member States to ratify and apply the UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances adopted in Vienna on 19 December 1988 and the Council of Europe Convention on laundering, tracing, seizure and confiscation of proceeds of crime opened for signature in Strasbourg on 8 November 1990, which the Member States undertook to do in the 'Declaration by the representatives of the governments of the Member States meeting within the Council' published in the annex to the money laundering Directive;

8. Considers that appropriate procedural provisions should exist or be introduced in all Member States to make it possible:

(a) for surveillance of telecommunications to be ordered if there are grounds for suspecting that a money laundering offence has been or is about to be committed,

(b) for temporary measures, such as provisional impoundment and seizure, to be taken to prevent the exchange, transfer or disposal of financial property derived from money laundering or criminal offences giving rise to it,

(c) for temporary measures as referred to in (b) to be taken if the competent authorities have information constituting adequate grounds for suspecting an offence,

(d) for the proceeds of money laundering or criminal offences giving rise to it or the financial property acquired with these proceeds to be confiscated;

9. Calls on the Member States to continue their work on the Europol Convention with a view to conferring on the Court of Justice of the European Communities the jurisdiction called for by Parliament pursuant to Article K.3(2), second indent (c), third subparagraph, and subsequently to ratify and apply the Convention;

10. Hopes that the authorities of the Member States which are responsible for applying the provisions of the Directive will use the avenues of cooperation which exist;

11. Stresses that, in order properly to carry out their duties of registration and notification, partly in accordance with Article 5 of the money laundering directive, banks and financial institutions must have trained staff and monitoring capacity in order to be able to provide the requisite expert clarification in the event of suspected money laundering;

12. Calls on the Commission to set up a system of appropriate incentives to ensure that the individual banks and financial institutions have trained staff and effective monitoring along the lines of those proposed in paragraph 11;

13. Considers that both credit and financial institutions as referred to in the second Directive on the coordination of banking law and all other natural and legal persons who carry out financial transactions, or activities particularly likely to be used for money laundering, commercially or on behalf of third parties should actually be included within the scope of the Directive and subject to state supervision;

14. Considers furthermore that this supervision should be exercised in accordance with uniform criteria throughout Europe;

15. Requests the Commission, pursuant to Article 17 of the Directive (91/308/EEC), in its second report on the implementation of the directive, to report on the possible monetary effects that potentially stem from illegal money transactions such as:

(a) the velocity of money affected by flow of illegal funds moving between countries of origin and of destination,

(b) the impact on money supplies of countries involved in the circuit of laundering,

(c) the form of investment illegal funds, once laundered, could take,

(d) the transmission of monetary policy in countries involved,

(e) the stability of financial markets situated in the circuit of money laundering and of final destination;

16. Also requests the Commission, in its second report to act against the causes and activities of illegal money transactions; measures contributing to a solution of the problem should be adopted such as:

(a) including articles in trade agreements concerning money laundering to require and ensure that partner countries adopt equivalent standards to those of the European Union,

(b) strengthening articles in the European Agreements with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe concerning money laundering to require and ensure that associated countries adopt equivalent standards to those of the European Union,

(c) strengthening articles in the Agreements on Partnership and Cooperation with the Russian Federation and the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union on money laundering to require and ensure that associated countries adopt equivalent standards to those of the European Union,

(d) the drawing up of a list of 'clean' banks,

(e) ensuring that the Commission and its subcontractors deal only with 'clean? banks,

(f) the vigilant enforcement of prudential supervision within the European Union with regard to the licensing and operation of banks,

(g) including articles in trade agreements regarding the adoption of Prudential Supervision standards to require and ensure that partner countries adopt equivalent standards to those of the European Union;

17. Wishes to have conclusive proof that money laundering is on the increase and is increasingly powerful in the network of organized crime;

18. Wishes to make it clear that money laundering can only be tackled effectively if it is tackled on a Europe-wide basis under single control and working in close liaison with the USA;

19. Calls furthermore on the Commission to propose a measure prohibiting financial involvement in criminal activities and criminalizing such involvement in the Member States, Article 100a of the EC Treaty to be used as the legal basis for this measure;

20. Calls on the Member States to step up action against money laundering and to give support to citizens and firms, by providing information, so as to be able to prevent any involvement in money laundering;

21. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, Commission and governments of the Member States.