Council Directive 91/308/EEC of 10 June 1991 on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering

This Directive represents the first stage in combating money laundering at Community level. The Directive defines the concepts of credit institution, financial institution and money laundering. In the case of money laundering, it takes over the definition given in the 1988 United Nations Convention against illicit traffic in drugs.

Member States must ensure that money laundering is prohibited and that credit and financial institutions require identification of their customers by means of supporting evidence unless the customer is also a credit or financial institution.

Directive 2001/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2001 amended this instrument.

This act is affected by Case C-176/03 of the Court of Justice of the European Communities regarding the distribution of powers in criminal matters between the European Commission and the Council of the European Union.