A4-0093/99

Resolution on the 'Second Commission Report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the Money Laundering Directive' (COM(98)0401 - C4-0396/98)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission Report, COM(98)0401 - C4-0396/98,

- having regard to Council Directive 91/308/EEC of 10 June 1991 on 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 its resolution of 21 June 1996 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) ((OJ C 198, 8.7.1996, p. 245.)),

- having regard to recommendation 26 of the action plan to combat organised crime ((OJ C 251, 15.8.1997, p. 1.)), the Joint Action on the creation of a European Judicial Network ((OJ L 191, 7.7.1998, p. 4.)) which is now already operational, and the Joint Action on money laundering, the identification, tracing, freezing, seizing and confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds from crime ((OJ L 333, 9.12.1998, p. 1.)),

- 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 and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A4-0093/99),

A. whereas the annual worldwide volume of money laundered was estimated at USD 500 Billion,

B. whereas Member States have failed to provide complete information about the number of prosecutions brought, the numbers of suspects and persons convicted or acquitted, and the amount of assets frozen or seized,

C. whereas the available information about the number of prosecutions brought, the numbers of suspects and persons convicted or acquitted, and the amount of assets frozen or seized gives reason to suppose that the system of criminal sanctions to combat money laundering in the EU is not operating effectively,

D. whereas money laundering should be fought in a way that imposes equal economic burdens on actors operating on related markets,

1. Calls upon the Commission to table a legislative proposal aimed at amending the Money Laundering Directive, comprising:

a) the inclusion in the Directive of professions at risk of being involved in money laundering or abused by money launderers, such as estate agents, art dealers, auctioneers, casinos, bureaux de change (exchange offices), transporters of funds, notaries, accountants, advocates, tax advisors and auditors ((See Directive 84/253/EEC on the approval of persons responsible for carrying out the statutory audits of accounting documents, OJ L 126, 12.5.1984, p. 20.)) into the scope of the directive with a view to:

- fully or partially applying to them the rules contained therein or, if necessary,

- applying to them new rules taking account of the particular circumstances of these professions, and especially having full regard to their professional duty of discretion,

b) measures aimed at ensuring that legal requirements imposed on the financial sector in the wide sense of the term are equal for all branches of that sector and that the competitive position of economic actors in the financial sector is affected in an equal way in practice;

2. Points to the need for the Directive to be comprehensively revised and calls on the Commission to take the following considerations into account when so doing:

- the individual articles of the Directive should be subdivided more clearly to make them easier to read and more comprehensible,

- the scope of the Directive should be extended to cover seizure of assets, and clear, workable standard procedural principles should accordingly be laid down to govern confiscation, freezing, and seizure of assets (for example to enable seizure to take place even when the culprit is not present in person, for instance if he has died or is on the run; possible avenues should be explored with a view to lightening the burden of proof applying when seizing assets obtained through crime; and a fair system should be established to ensure that seized assets are shared among the Member States according to their involvement in the investigations; in this context, it should be investigated whether those seized assets could be used as compensation for victims of crime);

- to improve the reliability and quality of statistics, information gathering in the Member States should be standardised with a view to determining the number of criminal prosecutions brought, the numbers of suspects and persons convicted or acquitted, and the amount of assets frozen or seized;

- steps should be taken to improve the basic and further training system for persons carrying on activities likely to be misused for money laundering purposes;

- an obligation should be laid down to impose penalties (disciplinary measures, or under civil or administrative law) for gross infringements of the reporting and notification requirement;

3. Maintains that the statement attached to the Directive likewise needs to be amended and calls on the Commission, when so doing, to widen the range of predicate offences giving rise to money laundering, following the example of the Joint Action on money laundering, the identification, tracing, freezing, seizing and confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds from crime; recommends, however, that the amendments in question be drafted in more comprehensible language;

4. Calls upon the Commission and the Member States to tackle the issue of the use of electronic payment techniques and of the Internet for the purposes of money laundering by exploring the possibilities for specific legislative action;

5. Maintains that wherever fighting money laundering implies the collection of personal data, the right to privacy must be protected by a full and correct application of Directives 95/46/EC ((Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.)) and 97/66/EC ((Directive 97/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector, OJ L 24, 30.1.1998, p. 1.));

6. Calls upon the Member States, the Council and the Commission to take the necessary measures in order to prevent the use of shell companies established in accordance with the law of a Member State or of a third country for the purpose of money laundering wherever such activity has a sufficiently close relationship to the European Union;

7. Calls upon the Member States, the Council and the Commission to ensure the application of anti-money laundering legislation to those territories of the Member States to which Community law does not apply or does apply only in a restricted manner by means of substantiation of the duty of genuine cooperation and assistance which Member States owe the Community and which finds expression in the obligation laid down in Article 5 of the EC Treaty;

8. Calls upon all relevant actors to take all necessary steps in order to ensure the application of reasonable anti-money laundering standards to third countries;

9. Invites the Council to submit, by virtue of Article 34 of the Europol Convention, a detailed report on the work of Europol relating to money laundering to the European Parliament; calls for Europol to play a wide role in the international exchange of police data when money laundering operations are suspected;

10. Calls for the European Judicial Network to be put to extensive use in cross-border criminal proceedings, in particular with a view to identifying, freezing, confiscating, and seizing laundered assets, and prosecuting money launderers; calls further for all judges and public prosecutors in the EU to be informed in detail about the help which can be obtained from the network;

11. Invites the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction to put more emphasis on the collection of data relating to money laundering;

12. Urges the Commission, in its forthcoming proposal for a new Money Laundering Directive, to tackle the issue of the potential to launder during the changeover from national notes and coins to the euro;

13. Believes that pre-laundering could be a problem during this changeover, and that the measures and controls implemented need to be maintained after the changeover has been completed, in order to be able to trace back pre-laundered money;

14. Calls for the Commission and the European Central Bank to consider measures which would minimise the risk of high denomination euro notes becoming the notes of choice for money laundering; urges, therefore, that the number of 500 euro notes is kept to a minimum;

15. Urges the Commission and the European Central Bank to bring forward proposals to minimise the risks of money laundering in the context of electronic money;

16. Believes that it is imperative, in the context of a single market, single currency and enlargement, for all Member States and pre-accession countries to demonstrate their commitment to tackling money laundering by ratifying, as a minimum, the Strasbourg Convention;

17. Stresses the importance of setting a 15,000 euro threshold (all new accounts and transactions above that limit will be controlled) in order to identify suspicious transactions better; believes that this threshold needs to be kept under review to ensure that it is capturing as many suspicious transactions as possible;

18. Strongly recommends that, as part of the fight against money laundering in Europe, Member States continue their efforts to bring 'tax haven countries¨ into the regime foreseen by the acquis communautaire;

19. Underlines the vital importance of the implementation of the entire acquis communautaire by candidate countries, with a special attention to the abolition of bank secrecy (especially numbered bank accounts) throughout the EU;

20. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, Europol, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and the Parliaments of the Member States.