The Wall Street Journal Quotes Jasper Helder on New EU Anti-Money-Laundering Guidance

The Wall Street Journal has quoted Akin Gump international trade partner Jasper Helder in the article “EU Takes Another Step to Harmonize Anti-Money-Laundering Rules.” The article looks at new guidance from the European Union’s banking regulator regarding its efforts to revamp its anti-money-laundering system.

Last month, the article says, the European Commission—the legislative arm of the EU—proposed a new anti-money-laundering agency with direct supervisory authority over financial companies. The new standards are expected to be finalized later this year.

One element of the guidance, according to the Journal, is the requirement for banks to designate a single group compliance officer who is responsible for harmonizing a financial institution’s approach to anti-money-laundering rules across member states. Helder stated that this would place part of the responsibility for developing a consistent, EU-wide approach to anti-money-laundering standards on financial institutions themselves.

“It is quite smart,” Helder said. “When you do that, if you are the individual within such a multicountry financial institution responsible for the group’s anti-money-laundering program, would you want to accept that your organization has different rules in Country A than Country B? Of course not.”