Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Par

This Directive is the fourth directive to address the threat of money laundering. Council Directive 91/308/EEC defined money laundering in terms of drugs offences and imposed obligations solely on the financial sector. Directive 2001/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council) extended the scope of Directive 91/308/EEC both in terms of the crimes covered and in terms of the range of professions and activities covered. In June 2003, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) revised its Recommendations to cover terrorist financing, and provided more detailed requirements in relation to customer identification and verification, the situations where a higher risk of money laundering or terrorist financing may justify enhanced measures and also the situations where a reduced risk may justify less rigorous controls. Those changes were reflected in Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and in Commission Directive 2006/70/EC, which the present Directive repeals with effect from 26 June 2017, deadline for its implementation.