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ARTICLE · 06 JULY 2018

Financial Regulatory Developments Focus – June 27, 2018 Issue 25/2018

A&O Shearman
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On June 19, 2018, the Fifth Money Laundering Directive was published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force on July 9, 2018.

European UnionFinance and Banking
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AML/CTF, Sanctions and Insider Trading

EU's Fifth Money Laundering Directive to Enter into Force July 2018

On June 19, 2018, the Fifth Money Laundering Directive was published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force on July 9, 2018. Member States must transpose the directive into their national laws within 18 months of that date. 5MLD makes a number of changes to the European Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing regime set out in the Fourth Money Laundering Directive.

The key changes introduced by 5MLD are:

  1. Extending the scope of "obliged entities" to include providers of exchange services between virtual and fiat currencies as well as custodian wallet providers. These entities will need to register in their home Member State.

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