Accountancy Europe supports increased action against money laundering in a smart and collaborative way. We encourage the European Commission’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Action Plan issued on 7 May 2020 as the first step towards legislative proposals expected in early-2021. We will contribute our feedback to the public consultation.

With the ongoing coronavirus there has been a rise in scams exploiting people’s fear. Working remotely has also made it harder for financial institutions to connect the dots on checking peoples’ credentials.

Professional accountants play a crucial role in safeguarding the financial system from money laundering. They carry out key tasks, such as customer due diligence and reporting suspicious client activities & non-compliance with laws and regulations. Our members, the professional accountancy bodies, support professionals in practice and discipline if needed.

Accountancy Europe CEO Olivier Boutellis-Taft states: “For the past 10+ years Accountancy Europe has contributed to developing the EU AML framework and making practitioners aware of these rules. We are thus keen to contribute to the European Commission’s initiative to strengthen AML in the EU. Our response to the related consultation will draw on the field experience of the 1 million professional accountants we represent to help the Commission deliver on its objectives.”

Successfully tackling financial crime depends upon all relevant parties, including business leaders, accountants, regulators, standard setters and the financial sector. We call for a joint effort to achieve tangible results on this new AML Action Plan.

Register now for our webinar to discuss this Action Plan with the European Commission. We co-host this with the European Contact Group and Transparency International on 10 June at 13.00-14.30 CET .