17 Amendments of Nicolaus FEST related to 2021/0241(COD)
Amendment 86 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) In order to facilitate their criminal activities, money launderers and financers of terrorism are likely to take advantage of the freedom of capital movements within the Union's integrated financial area unless certain coordinating measures are adopted at Union level. Through immutable and constant record of transactions, data transparency and the cross-border character of blockchains, crypto assets are traceable and allow for seamless law enforcement intervention when seeking illicit activities. The Union should take advantage of these benefits to effectively address risks for potential misuse of crypto-assets for purposes related to money laundering and terrorist financing in order to safeguard the European consumer and also allow licensed crypto- asset service providers to operate without restrictive administrative burdens. International cooperation within the framework of FATF and the global implementation of its recommendations aim to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing while transferring funds or crypto-assets .
Amendment 94 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) In addition, the Commission Action Plan of 7 May 2020 for a comprehensive Union policy on preventing money laundering and terrorism financing41 identified six priority areas for urgent action to improve the Union’s anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism regime, including the establishment of a coherent regulatory framework for that regime in the Union to obtain more detailed and harmonised rules, notably to address the implications of technological innovation and developments in international standards and avoid diverging implementation of existing rules. Work at international level suggests a need to expand the scope of sectors or entities covered by the anti-money laundering There should not be any implication in the EU regulatory framework that crypto- asset businesses carry inherently higher AML risks, as mandy countering financing of terrorism rules and to assess how they should apply to virtual assets service providers not covered so farrypto products are based on AML risk-management mechanisms built in the underlying Blockchain technology. The technology immensely improves asset ownership and transfer transparency. __________________ 41 Communication from the Commission on an Action Plan for a comprehensive Union policy on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing (C(2020) 2800 final).
Amendment 111 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) In order not to impair the efficiency of payment systems and crypto-asset transfer services , and in order to balance the risk of driving transactions underground as a result of overly strict identification requirements against the potential terrorist threat posed by small transfers of funds or crypto-assets , the obligation to check whether information on the payer or the payee , or, for transfers of crypto-assets, the originator and the beneficiary, is accurate should, in the case of transfers of funds where verification has not yet taken place, be imposed only in respect of individual transfers of funds or crypto-assets that exceed EUR 13000, unless the transfer appears to be linked to other transfers of funds or transfers of crypto-assets which together would exceed EUR 13000, the funds or crypto-assets have been received or paid out in cash or in anonymous electronic money, or where there are reasonable grounds for suspecting money laundering or terrorist financing.
Amendment 116 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25 a (new)
Recital 25 a (new)
(25a) Crypto-assets exist in a borderless virtual reality and can be transferred to any crypto-asset service provider in any jurisdiction, or even without a jurisdictional registration. Many non- Union jurisdictions have in place rules relating to data protection and enforcement that are of a different nature than those laid down in the Union. When transferring crypto-assets on behalf of a customer to a crypto-asset service provider that is not registered in the Union, the crypto-asset service provider of the originator should, in addition to the customer due diligence measures laid down in Article 13 of Directive (EU) 2015/849, through best endeavour, assess the ability of the crypto-asset service provider of the beneficiary to receive and retain the information required under this Regulation and to protect the confidentiality of the originator's personal data. Where that information cannot be transmitted with the transfer, a record of the information on the originator and the beneficiary should nevertheless be retained and made available to competent authorities upon request.
Amendment 168 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 5 – point c
Article 2 – paragraph 5 – point c
(c) the amount of the transfer of funds or crypto-assets does not exceed EUR 13000.
Amendment 190 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) for transfers of funds exceeding EUR 13000, whether those transfers are carried out in a single transaction or in several transactions which appear to be linked, the information on the payer or the payee in accordance with Article 4;
Amendment 194 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point b – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point b – introductory part
(b) for transfers of funds not exceeding EUR 13000 that do not appear to be linked to other transfers of funds which, together with the transfer in question, exceed EUR 13000, at least:
Amendment 199 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
By way of derogation from Article 4(1), and, where applicable, without prejudice to the information required in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 260/2012, where the payment service provider of the payee is established outside the Union, and where crypto-assets are subject to a transfer, in alignment with FATF standards, transfers of funds not exceeding EUR 13000 that do not appear to be linked to other transfers of funds which, together with the transfer in question, exceed EUR 13000, shall be accompanied by at least:
Amendment 202 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 3
Article 7 – paragraph 3
3. In the case of transfers of funds exceeding EUR 13000, whether those transfers are carried out in a single transaction or in several transactions which appear to be linked, before crediting the payee's payment account or making the funds available to the payee, the payment service provider of the payee shall verify the accuracy of the information on the payee referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article on the basis of documents, data or information obtained from a reliable and independent source, without prejudice to the requirements laid down in Articles 83 and 84 of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 .
Amendment 204 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 4 – introductory part
Article 7 – paragraph 4 – introductory part
4. In the case of transfers of funds not exceeding EUR 13000 that do not appear to be linked to other transfers of funds which, together with the transfer in question, exceed EUR 13000, the payment service provider of the payee need not verify the accuracy of the information on the payee, unless the payment service provider of the payee:
Amendment 232 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 3
Article 14 – paragraph 3
3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, point (b), and paragraph 2, point (b), in the case of a transfer not made from or to an account, the crypto-asset service provider of the originator shall ensure that the transfer of crypto-assets can be individually identified and record the originator and beneficiary address identifiers on the distributed ledger. The application of innovative technological solutions shall be considered to facilitate such operations.
Amendment 252 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 7 a (new)
Article 14 – paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. In contrast to transfers of funds between wallets hosted by centralised exchanges, where full responsibility of the centralised crypto asset service provider is in place, un-hosted wallet transfers sent to wallet hosted by centralised exchanges, and vice versa, shall impose limited liability on the receiving wallet.
Amendment 259 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
By way of derogation from Article 14(1), and in alignment with FATF standards, transfers of crypto-assets not exceeding EUR 13 000 that do not appear to be linked to other transfers of crypto-assets which, together with the transfer in question, exceed EUR 13 000, shall be accompanied by at least the following information:
Amendment 269 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 2
Article 16 – paragraph 2
Amendment 272 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 16 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. In contrast to transfers of funds between wallets hosted by centralised exchanges, where full responsibility of the centralised crypto-asset service provider is in place, unhosted wallet transfers sent to wallet hosted by centralised exchanges, and vice versa, should impose limited liability on the receiving wallet.
Amendment 276 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. In the case of transfers of crypto- assets not exceeding EUR 13 000 that do not appear to be linked to other transfers of crypto-asset which, together with the transfer in question, exceed EUR 13 000, the crypto-asset service provider of the beneficiary shall only verify the accuracy of the information on the beneficiary in the following cases:
Amendment 295 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 17 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. In contrast to transfers of funds between wallets hosted by centralised exchanges, where full responsibility of the centralised crypto asset service provider is in place, unhosted wallet transfers sent to wallet hosted by centralised exchanges, and vice versa, shall impose limited liability on the receiving wallet.