A Better European Union Architecture to Fight Money Laundering

A series of banking scandals in multiple EU countries has underlined the shortcomings of Europe's anti-money laundering regime. The impact of these shortcomings has been further underlined by changing geopolitics and by the new reality of European banking union. The imperative of establishing sound supervisory incentives to fight illicit finance effectively demands a stronger EU-level role in anti-money laundering supervision. The authors here detail their plan for a new European unitary architecture, centred on a new European anti-money laundering authority that would work on the basis of deep relationships with national authorities.

A series of banking scandals in multiple European Union countries including Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom has underlined the shortcomings of the European Union’s anti-money laundering (AML) regime. Many of these cases have involved staggering sums, with billions of dollars laundered through accounts at one bank. The impact of the EU’s AML shortcomings has been further underlined by changing geopolitics and by the new reality of European banking union.