EC urges Romania to transpose anti-money laundering, cross-border funds distribution directives

The European Commission (EC) called on Romania on Friday to fully transpose directives regarding money laundering and the distribution of cross-border funds into its national legislation.

Romanian authorities have exempted several categories of corporate and other legal entities from the obligation to declaring their beneficial owners to a central register, failing to comply with the anti-money laundering directive, the Commission said in a statement.

The directive requires member states to ensure that corporate and other legal entities incorporated within their territory obtain and hold adequate, accurate and current information on their beneficial ownership, including the details of the beneficial interests held. Anti-money laundering rules are instrumental in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing, and legislative gaps occurring in one member state have an impact on the EU as a whole, it noted.

The Commission also urged Romania to update national laws removing regulatory barriers under the cross-border distribution of funds directive.

The directive aims at removing regulatory barriers to the distribution of the collective investment funds, which is one of the objectives of the Capital Markets Union. These rules aim at increasing transparency and creating a single access to information on national rules related to marketing requirements, regulatory fees and charges levied by national competent authorities, the EC said.

If Romania does not address these reasoned opinions in two months, the Commission will refer the case to the Court of Justice of the EU.

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