The bill, one of several designed to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, received 99 votes in favor, eight votes opposed, and six abstentions.
To combat money laundering and terrorist financing, European Union lawmakers have adopted new draft legislation imposing a 1,000 euro ($1,083) cap on anonymous crypto transfers.
The limit would apply to a crypto asset transfer when a customer cannot be identified, as stated in a European Parliament statement published on March 28. Cash transactions will also be restricted to a maximum of 7,000 euros ($7,585).
The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Terrorist Financing package is expected to be approved in a plenary session in April. Negotiations on the final shape of the bills will then begin, according to the statement.
Aujourd’hui a eu lieu un vote important au @Europarl_EN dans le domaine de la lutte contre le blanchiment d’argent et le financement du terrorisme.
— Aurore Lalucq (@AuroreLalucq) March 28, 2023
Cela concerne notamment les #NFT et les plateformes de cryptos. Thread 👇 pic.twitter.com/qP95NsQ3Cw
The European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which will be established in June 2022, will eventually enforce the rules.
“For us, it is important the new authority cooperates very closely with national supervisors and that it directly supervises the riskiest crypto asset service providers and companies in the financial sector that operate in several member states,” AMLA co-rapporteur Emil Radev stated.
Legislators overwhelmingly approved the text relating to anonymous instruments, including crypto assets, with 99 votes in favor, eight against, and six abstentions.
Based on the newly adopted text, introducing the bill will necessitate greater transparency and compliance, particularly from crypto asset managers. It stated:
“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.”
This comes after the European Banking Federation (EBF) published a paper on March 28 outlining its vision for the future digital money ecosystem, specifically the retail digital euro.
The EBF proposed a three-tiered model for the digital euro, including the role of the European Central Bank (ECB) and two industry levels. The ECB's role will be to interact with the Single Euro Payments Area, with the private sector later developing and operating a "Industry Level B."
In related news, the European Union's final vote on a set of crypto rules — the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation — was recently postponed until April 2023.
This is not the first time European legislators have moved the procedure, which was previously pushed back from November 2022 to February 2023.