Source: European Parliament
Financial information is vital for the investigation of serious crime and for freezing the proceeds of crime, but EU investigators often lack the tools for effective investigation, especially when dealing with cross-border crime. The new revised directive – adopted in May 2024 – will give law enforcement authorities the same level of access afforded to financial intelligence units under the new anti-money laundering directive. It will include crypto-asset service providers and financial and credit institutions for the provision of transactions records. The directive will also provide for a single access point to be set up and managed by the European Commission to ensure that information from centralised registers is available to authorities swiftly. The directive will require financial institutions to share transaction records, i.e. bank statements, in a harmonised format, when they share them as part of an investigation, facilitating processing and interpretation. In the European Parliament, the file was referred to the Committee on civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). Interinstitutional negotiations on the proposal began in March 2023. The Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement in February 2024. After adoption by both institutions, the final act was signed on 31 May, and it came into force on 9 July 2024. Second edition of a briefing originally drafted by Ann Neville. The ‘EU Legislation in Progress’ briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure.
