By Dan Byrne for AMLi
THE FUTURE OF Europe’s fight against dirty money will be top of the agenda at the next AMLi Boardroom Series event.
Next Monday, May 17, European Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinness will outline a new decade of stronger synchronisation amongst European financial intelligence units (FIUs).
At the event titled Europe’s New AML Authority, she will also give an overview of how the EU’s single AML rulebook will change the way these FIUs do business.
As the European Union continues its rapid pace toward a harmonised approach in anti-money laundering, Commissioner McGuinness has been handed the task of putting the bloc’s extensive plans into action. Her individual portfolio is Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union.
On Monday next,, she will map out Europe’s way forward as the region tries to shake itself free of multiple laundering scandals that have thrown billions in transferred funds into disrepute.
Ms McGuinness was appointed an EU Commissioner in September 2020. The former First Vice President of the European Parliament said on appointment that she wanted a “fully independent” supervisory body for AML in Europe.
This, she said, was necessary to ensure that “scandals such as those we have seen recently do not happen again.”
Also in attendance on Monday morning will be Wim Mijs, European Banking Federation CEO and the voice of one of the most important sectors in European AML.
Agencies as senior as the Financial Action Task Force have hailed the public-private-partnership as an AML keystone for the new decade, so the thoughts, concerns and actions of banks will be pivotal in deciding how those efforts turn out.
“To be effective, the fight against financial crime cannot remain solely in the hands of the public authorities or solely in the hands of the industry,” he told AML Intelligence this week.
“Joint efforts are required for tackling the identified problems such as regulatory and supervisory fragmentation, and lack of efficient information exchange.”
Mr Mijs noted “banks today consider money laundering not only as a compliance problem but as a societal challenge.
“Regrettably, the prescriptive elements of the AML/CFT regime have over time created a division between the management of financial crime risk and the management of financial crime compliance risk, with the latter overwhelming the former. That is why putting a truly effective AML/CFT framework in place is of utmost importance.
He stressed that there was hope on the horizon in the form of the upcoming EU AML/CFT package, which he promised was a “major opportunity to address the existing shortcomings.”
“The momentum should not be missed,” he finished.
Fellow speakers at the virtual Europe’s New AML Authority event include Julie Linn Teigland, Managing Partner for the EMEA region at EY, FINTRAIL CEO Gemma Rogers, and Bram van Sunder, financial services consulting partner at EY Netherlands.
Europe’s New AML Authority is a free online event and registration is now open.
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