MLD V And Its Implactions For Wealth Managers

Many EU countries have missed the deadline for the establishment of beneficial ownership registers for companies and trusts. When their teething problems are over, however, trustees and other wealth managers in the EU will have to cope with another set of obligations - this time from the fifth Money Laundering Directive.

The European Union's fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), which its member states rubber-stamped on 13th December, was adopted by the EU Council on 14 May this year and must be transposed into all national laws by the end of 2019. At the time of writing, it has been reported that twenty EU countries have either failed to bring the fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) into force, or are still doing so, and so an 18-month deadline for the fifth might be a trifle optimistic.