On June 19, 2018, the Fifth Directive (EU) 2018/84 by virtue of which Directive (EU) 2015/849, of May 20, 2015, is amended, relative to the prevention of the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing (Fourth Directive).
Among the main novelties of this Fifth Directive, the following stand out:
- Increased efficiency from the list of high-risk third countries drawn up by the Commission, harmonizing the treatment of these countries at Union level.
- Guarantee that the categories of clients established by obligated entities are periodically reviewed.
- Emergence of new subjects obligated and extension of obligations for some of the already existing obligated subjects, specifically:
- Tax advisors, external accountants and auditors.
- Virtual currencies. Virtual currencies should not be confused with electronic money, and their use as means of exchange, investment, reserve-of-value products or use in online casinos must be taken into account. The objective of the Directive is to cover all possible uses of virtual currencies.
- Merchants or intermediaries in the marketing of works of art, in cases where the amount of the transaction or a series of related transactions is equal to or greater than €10,000.
- real estate agents, in relation to transactions for which the monthly rent is equal to or greater than €10,000.
- Public access to real ownership records. Member States should facilitate public access to ownership information through central registries.
- Limits are reduced in relation to the use of prepaid instruments.
It is clear that the European Union, in the fight against money laundering, with this set of rules focuses on the prevention of this type of crime.
That is why all member state organizations are obliged to adapt to ensure compliance with the fifth Directive. Specific, the deadline for the adaptation of Spanish regulations to this Directive ended January 10, 2020, without currently having been carried out.
The draft law
Thus, in June 2020 the Draft law to modify the current regulations, after Spain was requested by the European Commission to urgently process the necessary legislative modifications.
The preliminary project that is in the parliamentary phase, among other aspects, introduces the following:
- Fiscal control of cryptocurrencies.
- Introduces as obligated subjects the suppliers of electronic wallet custody services.
- Create a Single registry of real ownership in the Ministry of Justice.
- Enter the responsibility of external experts due to the content of the reports carried out on the adequacy of prevention measures for obligated subjects.
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