Newsflash | New AML Draft Law

On 8 August 2019,  the  Chamber of Deputies of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg issued a draft law 7467 (the “Draft Law”) for the purposes of transposing some provisions of the Directive 2018/843 of 30 May 2018 (the “5th AML Directive”) amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 of 20 May 2015 (the “4th AML Directive”) on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and also amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU through the amendment of the Luxembourg law of 12 November 2004 on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, as modified (the “AML Law”) and other national laws relating to the organisation of regulated professions. 

The main proposed changes included in the Draft Law aim to:

• extend the scope of the AML Law to virtual asset service providers and custodian wallet providers;
• include within the scope of the AML Law the persons trading or acting as intermediaries in the trade of works of art, including when this is carried out by art galleries, auction houses or free ports, where the value of the transaction or a series of linked transactions amounts to EUR 10,000 or more;
• lower the thresholds for identifying purchasers of prepaid cards and for the use of e-money;
• include within the scope of the AML Law,  real estate agents and real estate developers when acting as intermediaries in the renting of real property, but only in relation to transactions for which the monthly rent amounts to EUR 10,000 or more;
• improve and harmonise the safeguards for business relationships and transactions to and from high-risk third countries;
• harmonise and extend the power of self-regulatory bodies and supervisory authorities; and
• strengthen the means of the supervisory authorities to cooperate with their foreign counterparts.

This Draft Law ensures the implementation of the FATF recommendations, in particular, those recommendations which are not the subject of equivalent provisions under Directive 2015/849 as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/843.