The European Union should consider creating an independent agency to supervise anti-money-laundering compliance, the bloc’s finance ministers said Thursday. The finance ministers urged the EU’s executive arm to evaluate and develop legislative proposals to establish a new supervisory body. Anti-money-laundering supervision is largely handled on a country-by-country basis in the EU, rather than by a central agency. A key issue in the debate over the future of anti-money-laundering supervision is how much authority an EU-level body should have. Whether the creation of a new anti-money-laundering supervisor would impose additional compliance costs on banks remains to be seen, Mr. Kirkegaard said.

Source: Wall Street Journal December 05, 2019 19:30 UTC