People will probably have to report to the authorities the transfer of more than €15,000 (CZK 380,000) in cash to another EU member state. The amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which will be discussed by the Government on Wednesday, provides for this. The standard also expands the obligations of traders of virtual assets, which include cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The Ministry of Finance is amending the law in response to the recommendations of experts from the Council of Europe, who considered the current wording of the standard insufficient.
New measures and limits
Currently, people have to declare the transfer of more than €10,000 (CZK 254,000) in cash across the EU’s external borders, which only applies to international airports. However, according to Council of Europe experts, such regulation is insufficient because it creates a vulnerability in the fight against the laundering of the proceeds of crime.
The amendment therefore introduces an obligation with a higher limit also for the transfer of cash across the EU’s internal borders, both in person and by post or other delivery service. People will have to declare the owner and recipient of this cash and explain why they are carrying it, if requested by Customs.
Extension of identification obligations
Another tightening concerns traders of virtual assets. They will now have to obtain information on the identity of the originator or recipient of the virtual asset transfer when identifying clients. Their duties will thus be closer to those of other financial and credit institutions when screening clients.
The Anti-Money Laundering Act, also known by the English acronym AML, enables the identification of the beneficial owners of companies, the investigation of the origin of assets or suspicious financial transactions. The law imposes the obligation of customer screening in particular on business entities that may be involved in transactions that are potentially abusable for money laundering or terrorist financing. This applies, among others, to credit institutions, real estate agencies, auditors and trust fund managers.
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