Browsing by Subject "4th AML Directive"

The theme of this thesis relates to the very topical question of the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive, so called 4th AMLD. The Directive must be implemented in all of the Member States by June 2017, at the latest. The study introduces and discusses the new Directive. As a research question this study tries to find out what are some of the main key implications of the new Directive. What – if anything - will change? And how are the changes, legal and political, both theoretically and especially in the practical level. What are the pros and cons of the new Directive? This will be analyzed with the traditional business tool, SWOT -analysis. This is also something new the author brings as an input, to combine traditional business tool to analyze law and legal texts, in this case a Directive, and its pros and cons. In order to analyze the new legal situation and how it is different from the earlier Directives, both of the Directives, old and the new one, 3rd and 4th AML Directive are discussed and analyzed in parallel. A brief historical pathway from the earlier directives is also introduced, i.e. the 1st and the 2nd Directive. As a background material literature, articles and political discussion papers from the Commission, Council, Parliament and other relevant actors are used in order to understand the context and the political and legal development which has led to the new Directive. Few interesting earlier court cases are also introduced. The very issue has not been studied much and there is not any relevant thesis work for example of the 4th Directive, since it is so new. Therefore the study and discussion is of relevance. Of course, money laundering itself as a phenomena and ways to hinder illegal money traffic has been studied a lot, but the Directive and its legal and practical implications is something new this thesis tries to enlighten. Obviously, since the limited space of the thesis, the author has selected some of the most interesting and relevant aspects to study from the vast Directive, so not all possible legal or practical implications are studied. To conclude, the study reflects on the current situation and aims of the new Directive and its legal and practical implications, so it is so called a de lege lata analysis. The method is legal dogmatics. The study finds out that there might be some legal problem areas or challenges in the new 4th AML Directive, particular in terms of how it relates to the privacy laws in different member states. Also the fact that the new Directive has a so called “Risk based approach” as a very core of it, which in fact is not defined by any means or anywhere in the Directive, can create legal and practical problems in Member States, in the future. All in all, there seems to be both pros and cons in the new Directive, but the final results and outcomes, only time will tell. At the very end a short de lege ferenda discussion is introduced.