This article discusses the two-step approach proposed by the Commission to end impunity for those violating sanctions (“Union restrictive measures”) following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The first step concerns a proposal for a Council Decision identifying the violation of Union restrictive measures as an area of crime that meets the criteria specified in Article 83(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Council is expected to formally adopt that Decision in October 2022, which will be the first time that the list of EU crimes is extended. This will allow the Commission to then immediately put forward a Directive on the definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of Union restrictive measures as a second step. In this regard, the Commission already suggested elements for such a future Directive in a Communication. Appropriate consultations are ongoing to ensure a high-quality text which empowers law … Read more

EU sanctions against Russia are unprecedented in their breadth, as well as in the seriousness of the wrongdoing they seek to address. As a result, the EU finds itself in uncharted waters as it develops its sanctions policy vis-à-vis Russia. This paper offers an overview of three strategic issues that are likely to impact the further evolution of EU policy in this area, namely: the objectives that EU sanctions against Russia can pursue; the fate of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Russian assets reportedly frozen across EU Member States; and the possible humanitarian impact of sanctions on Russian population. While questions associated with each of these issues admit of no easy answers, thinking through them will be essential to shaping a coherent, credible and effective sanctions policy in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

The situation concerning corruption in Ukraine before the Russian invasion was not particularly encouraging: there were no significant improvements on the ground; independent, newly established, specialised anti-corruption bodies were being hindered from doing their job in every possible way. As in almost all countries participating in armed conflicts, it is entirely understandable that fighting corruption is no longer a priority now that the country is under attack. When the war is over, the Ukrainian anti-corruption framework will be weaker than it was before the war, yet it will face a series of new challenges, especially those resulting from the vast influx of material and financial support for humanitarian purposes and for the reconstruction of the country. In order to avoid a scenario in which the country, having survived the war, could become a victim of corruption, the Ukrainian government, supported by the international community, will have the important task of … Read more

This article describes the role and activities of the Italian notary in the fight against money laundering. The Italian notaryship has always been committed to this fight: compared to other professional groups obliged by the relevant anti-money laundering legislation, notaries submit 91% of the reports on suspicious transactions; it recently also proposed the creation of an anti-money laundering data warehouse based on the Spanish model and considered to be an excellent tool by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). In addition, the Italian notary will closely follow the process of new EU regulations on anti-money laundering during its presidency of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE) in 2022. It will work to ensure that the new legislation takes into account the specificities of the notarial profession with its public function.

Criminal organisations use and misuse legal structures in order to launder the money they earn through crimes. Local authorities can unwittingly and unwillingly facilitate crime and money laundering. After all, criminals or people who can be linked to crime and money laundering have to make use of certain legal structures in order to launder their money. They have to apply for permits, they need housing, etc. In order to prevent this misuse of legal structures, the information exchange between law enforcement authorities is necessary, and an administrative, integrated approach to preventing and fighting organised crime is needed.

Such information exchange often poses problems in border regions, however, as most of the laws with regard to information exchange between different authorities are written with purely national situations in mind. In border regions, citizens from neighbouring countries often also apply for certain permits if they wish to do business in a … Read more

Early in its development, the EU’s anti-money laundering (AML) scheme was already criticized for its interference with the fundamental rights to privacy. Quite recently, some scholars have highlighted that customer due diligence obligations constitute a massive retention of financial data. Consequently, they have tried to apply the ECJ’s findings on data retention of telecommunication traffic data to the AML framework. Financial data is quite legitimately seen as a honeypot for law enforcement authorities, which makes a comparison between retention of financial data and retention of telecommunication traffic data readily apparent. Surprisingly, not much attention is paid to the AML framework in this context, compared to the pile of comments telecommunication data. Not even the EDPS mentioned data retention as a problem in his opinion of the EU’s action plan on money laundering in 2020. It is thus also not surprising that no alterations to the retention obligations can be found … Read more