Activities of Alfred SANT related to 2022/2080(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Lessons learnt from the Pandora Papers and other revelations (debate)
Amendments (12)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas the practices described in the Pandora Papers further entrench social and economic inequalities in our societies, and strongly erode citizens’ trust in the rule of law and in our economic and democratic system; whereas fostering social and economic justice is ever more important in the crisis that the EU currently faces, following the war of aggression against Ukraine and the cost of living crisis that ensued;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Welcomes the proposed Anti- Money Laundering legislative package; stresses the importance of increasing the coordination between national legal frameworks to address loopholes, and the improvement to supervision provided by establishing a European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) with adequate resources and competences;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to recognise and address the risks of conflicts of interest stemming from the provision of legal advice, tax advice and auditing services when advising both corporate clients and public authorities; reiterates its call on the Commission to propose measures to clearlythe separateion of accountancying firms fromand financial or tax service providers as well as on all advisory services; welcomes the recently announced division of activities of one of the Big 4 major accounting firms into separate audit and advisory businesses, demonstrating that such separation is achievable11a; _________________ 11a https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 22/sep/08/ernst-young-splits-into- separate-audit-and-advisory-businesses
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Notes that despites the implementation of European and national legislation on exchange of information and transparency, the quality of data exchanged as well as the quality of data in different public registers remains low, poor, incomplete or not sufficiently updated; urges Member States to dedicate the appropriate resources, including sufficient staff and technology, to process and make full use of the data; calls on the Commission to issue guidance or provide support to Member State and reporting entities to guarantee the quality of data sent; requests that the Commission provides an overall assessment of the quality of data provided in the context of exchange of information between Member States as well as the quality of data in compulsory public registers;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15 b. Recalls the importance of transparency of beneficial ownership information (BOI) across the world the EU’s leading role in this domain; regrets, however, the delay in the setting-up of the Beneficial Ownership Registers Interconnection System (BORIS) in the EU due to technical difficulties; highlights that access to adequate, accurate and up-to-date BOI and control of legal persons is a valuable tool in the fight against tax evasion and avoidance;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15 c. Stresses that the 5th AMLD requires Member States to set up registers of the beneficial owners of all legal entities established in the EU, including trusts, and grants public access to basic beneficial ownership information about companies; regrets the delays of implementation of these requirements in many Member States;
Amendment 134 #
15 d. Notes with concern that Member States have adopted BO registers in very divergent ways, with different access conditions, different search functions and different mechanisms for data verification, if any; stresses that, as a result, there has been a delay delay in the setting-up of the Beneficial Ownership Registers Interconnection System (BORIS) due to technical difficulties;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 e (new)
Paragraph 15 e (new)
15 e. Reminds the Commission and the Member States that it is absolutely essential that beneficial ownership information is accessible for financial intelligence units (FIUs), law enforcement, obliged entities and the general public; deplores the fact that delays in Member States and the overall lack of coordination in the implementation process are undermining the effectiveness of an functioning interconnection system, and calls on all actors to address this delay as a matter of urgency;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 f (new)
Paragraph 15 f (new)
15 f. Welcomes the revision of the Recommendation 24 by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which requires countries to prevent the misuse of legal persons for money laundering or terrorist financing; highlights that henceforth countries will have to require beneficial ownership information to be held by a public authority or body functioning as beneficial ownership registry or an alternative mechanism as efficient;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 g (new)
Paragraph 15 g (new)
15 g. Stresses that progress in tackling the use of anonymous companies can only be possible if information about beneficial owners is easily and available in a timely manner in all jurisdictions, and if authorities are able to make use of that information and cross-check data for investigative purposes;
Amendment 138 #
15 h. Welcomes further that the FATF is conducting a review of Recommendation 25 on the transparency and BOI of legal arrangements; considers, in this regard, that, similarly to what already is prescribed in EU law, the standard should determine that trusts or other similar legal arrangements be registered, that multi-pronged approach to trust ownership transparency should be required, including a trust register as a required component and that access to BO information on trusts be at least as comprehensive as it is currently determined by EU law;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Calls for the creation of an EU Asset Register to provide public authorities with centralised access to information on the ownership of high value assets and goods throughout the EU and thereby effectively curb efforts to circumvent financial targeted sanctions, and fight money laundering and tax evasion and avoidance;