Charlie McCreevy
No.69/05
July 26, 2005
EU
FIGHTS TERRORISM: NEW MEASURES TO CUT TERRORIST FUNDING
A
proposal to tighten controls of money transfers in order
to cut off funding sources for terrorists
and other criminals has been presented by the European
Commission. The proposed Regulation
would require that money transfers be accompanied by the
identity of the sender including the name, address and
account number. The proposed measures will ensure that
this information will be immediately available to the
appropriate law enforcement authorities and will assist
them in detecting, investigating and prosecuting terrorists
and other criminals and tracing their assets. This proposal
is part of the EU Plan of Action to Combat Terrorism.
Internal
Market Commissioner Charlie
McCreevy said: “The fight against terrorism requires
a sustained and focused effort on many fronts. One of
these is to cut off the funding for terrorist actions.
Only one month after the final adoption by the Financial
Action Task Force[1]
of an international standard on money transfers, the Commission
shows, with the adoption of this proposal, its determination
to fully participate in the international effort to combat
terrorism.”
In order to ensure the traceability of money transfers,
the proposal establishes obligations for banks and money
remitters involved in the payment chain. The requirements
apply to transfers of funds in any currency that are sent
or received by a payment service provider in the EU. The
name, address and account number of the sender of the
transfer must always be transmitted together with the
funds. This information will only be provided to the competent
authorities for the purposes of preventing, investigating,
detecting or prosecuting money laundering or terrorist
financing.
A simplified version of this regime is proposed for money
transfers within the EU, in line with the efforts to build
a single market for payments.
As even small amounts can be used to finance terrorism,
banks or money remitters will have to transmit information
on the sender regardless of the amounts involved. Similarly,
when receiving funds, regardless of the amounts involved,
they will have to subject those funds to special scrutiny
and ultimately reject any unidentified transfers or terminate
business relationships with their counterparts when these
systematically fail to provide information on the sender.
The UK
Presidency has indicated that it will give priority
to this proposal and technical discussions are due to
begin imminently.
For further information, please consult:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/payments/transfers/index_en.htm
----------------------
[1]
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was established
by G7 in 1989. It is the world standard in the fight
against money laundering and terrorist financing.
Further Contact Information
Press and Media Relations
Delegation of the European Commission
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Washington, DC 20037
http://www.eurunion.org/PressRoom
Tel: 202-862-9552
Fax: 202-429-1766
