On February 10, the Council of the European Union published a press release stating that agreement had been reached with the European Parliament regarding the Fourth Money Laundering Directive (MLD4) and the proposed revised Wire Transfer Regulation (WTR).

MLD4 has an extended scope and introduces due diligence requirements for a greater number of traders by lowering the threshold required for anti-money laundering steps from €15,000 to €10,000.

The agreement between the Council and the European Parliament means that MLD4 and WTR will go to second reading and can now be adopted. Member States will have two years to transpose the Directive into national law; the Regulation will be directly applicable.  Press Release.