On 14 November 2017 the following article was posted on europarl.europa.eu:

Member States not ready to close deal on AMLD, say rapporteurs

Press Releases ECON LIBE
14 November 2017

Negotiations stall over update to Anti-money laundering Directive after Council attends final scheduled trilogue without mandate
On Tuesday evening, a political agreement on the 5th update to the Anti-Money Laundering Directive failed to materialise during the last scheduled trilogue. Agreement was blocked by the Council’s lack of a mandate to negotiate and the absence of a text as a basis for discussion.
Krišjānis Kariņš leading the negotiations on behalf of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee said:

“The European Parliament regrets that the Council is not ready to undertake serious negotiations in order to reach an agreement. We are concerned that the delay in the negotiations between the Parliament and Council may be used as a reason to delay the implementation of 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive and, in effect, the setting up of beneficial ownership registers.
The Parliament has negotiated in good faith from the very beginning and we expect the Council to be constructive and willing to reach an agreement before the end of the year.”

Judith Sargentini, leading the negotiations on behalf of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee stressed the need for transparency registers to stamp out the practice of money being concealed. She said:

“We have seen Lux leaks, the Panama Papers and now the Paradise Papers. The list is getting longer but members states fail to see the urgency. We need to finalise this legislation and implement it as soon as possible as transparency around ownership will help to fight money laundering and tax evasion. The delay in finalising a deal on the 5th update to the AMLD is having a knock-on effect on implementation of the 4th update. This cannot continue.