The legislation was one of several laws designed to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, receiving 99 votes in favor, eight votes against, and six abstentions. 



To stop money laundering and terrorism financing, European Union legislators have endorsed a new draught rule putting a maximum of 1,000 euros ($1,083) on anonymous cryptocurrency transfers.

When a consumer cannot be identified, the limit would apply to a crypto asset transfer, according to a statement made by the European Parliament and released on March 28. The maximum amount for cash transactions will also be 7,000 euros ($7,585).

In a plenary meeting scheduled for April, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Funding of Terrorism package will be approved. Negotiations on the bills' ultimate form will then start, it was stated.

It was underlined that the laws will eventually be enforced by the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which would be established in June 2022.

According to Emil Radev, co-rapporteur for the AMLA, "for us, it is important that the new authority cooperates very closely with national supervisors and that it directly supervises the riskiest crypto asset service providers and businesses in the financial sector that operate in several member states."

With 99 votes in favor, 8 against, and 6 abstentions, MPs decisively approved the language dealing with anonymous instruments, including crypto assets.

According to the recently accepted draught, presenting the measure will necessitate increased compliance and transparency, especially from crypto asset managers. It said:

“Entities, such as banks, assets and crypto assets managers, real and virtual estate agents and high-level professional football clubs, will be required to verify their customers’ identity, what they own and who controls the company.”

Additionally, it was emphasised that the various businesses would need to identify the particular dangers of money laundering and terrorist funding that pertain to their line of work and report this pertinent information to a central registry.

Related: European Commission to ensure ‘healthy competition in the metaverse

The European Banking Federation (EBF) published a document on March 28 that described its vision for the future ecosystem of digital money, with a focus on the retail digital euro.

The European Banking Federation (EBF) advocated a three-tiered plan for the digital euro, which included the involvement of the ECB and two industry levels. The job of the ECB will be to interact with the Single Euro Payments Area, with the private sector later developing and running an "Industry Level B."

In related news, the Markets in Crypto-Assets legislation final vote by the European Union was just postponed to April 2023.

The procedure has already been moved from November 2022 to February 2023 by European legislators, so this is not the first time it has been changed.

(CIARAN LYONS, Cointelegraph, 2023)