The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) has adopted a new EU directive providing law enforcement authorities with improved access to financial information.
The existing directive on the prevention of money laundering requires member states to establish centralised bank account registries and gives financial intelligence units direct access to the information held in those registries. The new rules require member states to:
designate competent authorities (including at least asset recovery offices) which can have direct and immediate access to bank account information for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of certain criminal offences, and which can request information or analysis from the financial intelligence units;
ensure financial intelligence units are required to cooperate with the competent authorities and are able to reply in a timely manner to requests for financial information or analysis from those authorities;
ensure the designated competent authorities reply in a timely manner to requests for law enforcement information by the national financial intelligence unit;
ensure financial intelligence units from different member states are entitled to exchange information in exceptional and urgent cases related to terrorism or organised crime associated with terrorism; and
ensure the competent authorities and the financial intelligence unit are entitled to reply (either directly or through the Europol national unit) to duly justified requests related to bank account and financial information made by Europol.
The directive will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the EU official journal. Member states will then have two years to bring into force any legislation and provisions needed to comply with the directive.
The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) has adopted a new EU directive providing law enforcement authorities with improved access to financial information.
The existing directive on the prevention of money laundering requires member states to establish centralised bank account registries and gives financial intelligence units direct access to the information held in those registries. The new rules require member states to:
designate competent authorities (including at least asset recovery offices) which can have direct and immediate access to bank account information for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of certain criminal offences, and which can request information or analysis from the financial intelligence units;
ensure financial intelligence units are required to cooperate with the competent authorities and are able to reply in a timely manner to requests for financial information or analysis from those authorities;
ensure the designated competent authorities reply in a timely manner to requests for law enforcement information by the national financial intelligence unit;
ensure financial intelligence units from different member states are entitled to exchange information in exceptional and urgent cases related to terrorism or organised crime associated with terrorism; and
ensure the competent authorities and the financial intelligence unit are entitled to reply (either directly or through the Europol national unit) to duly justified requests related to bank account and financial information made by Europol.
The directive will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the EU official journal. Member states will then have two years to bring into force any legislation and provisions needed to comply with the directive.
