BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Wednesday it is suing Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands because the three countries have not fully integrated EU rules on anti-money laundering into their national laws.
The 27-nation bloc’s executive cited a lack of action on EU law related to fundamental aspects of the anti-money laundering framework “such as betting and gambling legislation (Austria), mechanisms under which the Financial Intelligence Units exchange documents and information (Belgium), and the information to be provided on the beneficial ownership of corporate and other legal entities (Netherlands)”.
In a statement, the Commission said it had filed its suit at the European Court of Justice, which has ultimate jurisdiction in member states, asking it to approve financial sanctions against the three countries.
There was no immediate comment from their governments.
(Reporting by Marine Strauss; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
