EU Refers Netherlands To ECJ Over Beneficial Ownership Registry

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

10 July 2020

The European Commission is taking action against the Netherlands for failing to fully implement the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD4) in respect of the availability of information on entities' beneficial owners.

The Commission said that AMLD4 has not been fully transposed into Dutch national law. The incomplete transposition concerns fundamental aspects of the anti-money laundering framework, relating in particular to the information to be provided on the beneficial ownership of corporate and other legal entities.

The Commission has referred the Netherlands to the European Court of Justice, with a request for financial sanctions.

The Commission has also taken such action against Austria and Belgium. It said that Austria has not implemented the required rules on betting and gambling legislation, while Belgium has not implemented mechanisms to support the exchange of documents and information among Financial Intelligence Units.

EU member states were required to implement the rules of the AMLD4 by June 2017. There are currently open infringement procedures on incomplete transposition in respect of eight member states.

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