On 11 December 2018, the Act amending the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (Implementatiewet wijziging vierde anti-witwasrichtlijn, the Act) was published for public consultation.

The Act will implement the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (EU/2018/843) (5MLD) into Dutch law, primarily by amending the Act on the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financiering van terrorisme). Most provisions of 5MLD will need to be implemented by 10 January 2020. The main changes that 5MLD make to the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (EU/2015/849) (4MLD) are described in more detail in a previous blog post.

The explanatory notes to the Act explain that the reasons for amending and further supplementing 4MLD are threefold:

• the emergence of technological services being increasingly used as alternative financial systems, which were not captured by 4MLD;

• the increased intertwining of organised crime and terrorism, which poses a threat to the safety of the European Union; and

• the desirability of better cooperation between competent authorities, both in and between Member States.

The consultation period ends on 15 January 2019.

View the Act and the explanatory notes (both in Dutch only), 11 December 2018.