The legislators of the European Union have approved a new legislative project that imposes a 1,000 euro ($1,083) limit on anonymous cryptocurrency transfers to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to a European Parliament statement published on March 28, the limit would apply to a transfer of crypto assets when a customer cannot be identified. Cash transactions will also be capped at 7,000 euros ($7,585).
It is planned that the package of measures against money laundering and the financing of terrorism is confirmed in a plenary session in April. After that, negotiations will begin on the final form of the bills, the statement said.
Aujourd’hui a eu lieu un vote important au @Europarl_EN dans le domaine de la lutte contre le blanchiment d’argent et le financing du terrorisme.
Cela concerns notamment them #NFT et les platformes de cryptos. Thread pic.twitter.com/qP95NsQ3Cw
— Aurore Lalucq (@AuroreLalucq) March 28, 2023
Today there was an important vote in @Europarl_EN in the field of the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
This includes #NFTs and cryptocurrency platforms.
It was pointed out that the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA)for its acronym in English), created in June 2022, I would end up applying the rules.
“For us, it’s important that the new authority cooperate very closely with national supervisors and directly supervise riskier crypto asset service providers and financial sector companies operating in multiple Member States,” said Emil Radev, AMLA co-rapporteur.
The text regarding anonymous instruments, including crypto assets, was approved by an overwhelming majority of legislatorswith 99 votes in favor, eight against and six abstentions.
The recently approved text indicates that the introduction of the bill will require greater transparency and compliance, in particular by crypto asset managers. Notes that:
“Entities such as banks, asset and crypto asset managers, real estate and virtual agents, and high-profile professional soccer clubs will be required to verify the identity of their clients, what they own, and who controls the company.”
It was also pointed out that industries would need to establish the specific risks associated with money laundering and terrorist financing within their business areaand transmit this relevant information to a centralized registry.
This comes after the European Banking Federation (FBE) published a document on March 28 detailing its vision of the digital money ecosystem of the future and the digital retail euro in particular.
The EBF proposed a three-tier model for the digital euro: The role of the European Central Bank (ECB) and two industrial levels. The role of the ECB will be to interact with the Single Euro Payments Area, with an “Industrial Level B” subsequently developed and operated by the private sector.
In related news, the final vote on the set of European Union rules on cryptocurrencies —the Regulation on crypto asset markets— recently postponed to April 2023.
It is not the first time that European legislators have rescheduled the procedure, since they previously pushed it back from November 2022 to February 2023.
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