The European Commission is preparing to prohibit cash transactions of €10,000 or more as part of new anti-money laundering measures.  


“We want clean euros, not dirty ones,” EC Commissioner for finance Mairead McGuinness told German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

“Money laundering poisons the economic system: the money comes from criminal activities and flows into the legal economic cycle.” 

The cash limit for companies and individuals are among measures she is due to reveal in July as the 27-member union steps up its fight against dirty money and terrorism financing.

Plans include formation of an EU authority to tackle financial crime with powers to monitor how banks implement AML policies.,  

Acknowledging surveys show most people in the EU do not want to move to a cashless society, McGuinness said: “We respect that citizens like cash and we don’t want to get rid of it. We are talking about an upper limit of €10,000. Carrying so much money around in your pockets is really difficult. Most people don’t.”  

Some member states currently have ceilings on cash payments, ranging from €500 in Greece to €15,000 in Poland.

Register for the latest financial crime news and analysis straight to your inbox 

 

 

 

 

Topics