Anti-money laundering: new guidance on the use of public-private partnership paves the way for a more efficient prevention of money laundering

The European Commission has published guidance on the use of public-private partnerships (PPP) to prevent and fight money laundering and terrorist financing. In recent years, PPPs have developed to exchange either strategic information, such as trends in criminal activities, money laundering, and terrorist financing risk indicators, or operational information, for instance related to specific cases, known persons and specific transactions. Today’s guidance aims to improve stakeholders’ general understanding of what PPPs are, and to encourage, where possible, their role in the effective fight against money laundering and terrorism financing. The document provides guidance on the main features and the associated opportunities, specific legal considerations, as well as observed best practices of PPPs. The Commission has emphasised the importance of the effective exchange of information in the fight against these crimes in its 2020 Action Plan for a comprehensive Union policy on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. In preparation of this document, the Commission carried out a public consultation with stakeholders from the public and private sector. Member States, EU agencies and bodies, academic organisations, research institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and the general public were all consulted. The aim was to learn from existing experiences but also to collect views, opinions, as well as facts and figures on the functioning of PPPs in order to fight financial crime. The PPP guideline is available here.