The provisional agreement includes measure to expand the list of obliged entities to new bodies. The new rules will cover "most of the crypto sector, forcing all cryptoasset service providers (CASPs) to conduct due diligence on their customers. This means that they will have to verify facts and information about their customers, as well as report suspicious activity."

According to the agreement, "CASPs will need to apply customer due diligence measures when carrying out transactions amounting to €1000 or more. It adds measures to mitigate risks in relation to transactions with self-hosted wallets."

The Council and Parliament also introduced specific enhanced due diligence measures for cross-border correspondent relationships for cryptoasset service providers.

The revised analysis now reflects the fourth progress report and selected elements of the Commission’s proposals of 28 June 2023. It also highlights further questions that may deserve the legislators’ attention when they discuss the recent European Commission proposal. The analysis also entails a summary of the external expertise commissioned by the ECON Committee. 

MiCA will enter into force on 29 June 2023 and will apply from 30 December 2024. However, the regulation will apply to e-money tokens and asset-referenced tokens from 30 June 2024.

The new transfer of funds regulation will also enter into force on 29 June 2023 and apply from 30 December 2024. 

According to the press release, the new EU Directive will provide for:

• "Direct access to bank account information across the Union: Law enforcement authorities and Asset Recovery Offices will have direct access to bank account information across the Union, through the single access point interconnecting bank account registries. This will enable the authorities to identify the banks in which suspects hold their accounts. Data protection safeguards will ensure that only limited information on the identity of the bank account holder would be made available.
• A common format for transaction records: the Directive will establish a common format for banks and crypto companies to provide the information on transactions – i.e., transaction records – to law enforcement authorities. The specifics of the format will be defined in an implementing act. Access to this information will be granted in accordance with national rules and procedural safeguards."

For further information, see the Proposal for a Directive on the access of competent authorities to centralised bank account registries through the single access point; and the staff working document.

MEPs from the Economic and Monetary Affairs and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committees adopted their position on three pieces of draft legislation on the financing provisions of EU Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) policy. The package consists of:

• The EU “single rulebook” - regulation - with provisions on conducting due diligence on customers, transparency of beneficial owners and the use of anonymous instruments, such as cryptoassets, and new entities, such as crowdfunding platforms. It also includes provisions on so-called "golden” passports and visas. 
• The 6th Anti-Money Laundering - directive - containing national provisions on supervision and Financial Intelligence Units, as well as on access for competent authorities to necessary and reliable information, e.g. beneficial ownership registers and assets stored in free zones. 
• The regulation establishing the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) with supervisory and investigative powers to ensure compliance with AML/CFT requirements. 

Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing:

The adopted texts provide that entities such as "banks, assets and cryptoassets managers, real and virtual estate agents and high-level professional football clubs," will be required to "verify their customers’ identity, what they own and who controls the company." They will also have to establish detailed types of risk of money laundering and terrorist financing in their sector of activity, and provide the relevant information to a central register.

To restrict transactions in cash and cryptoassets, MEPs want to cap payments that can be accepted by persons providing goods or services, setting limits up to €7000 for cash payments and €1000 for cryptoasset transfers, where the customer cannot be identified. Given the risk of misuse by criminals, MEPs want to "ban any citizenship by investments schemes (golden passports) and impose strong AML controls on residence by investment schemes (golden visas)."

Financial intelligence unit:

Each member state should "establish a financial intelligence unit (FIU) to prevent, report and combat money laundering and terrorist financing. FIUs should share information with each other and with competent authorities as well as cooperate with AMLA, Europol, Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s office."

Information on beneficial ownership:

To detect money laundering schemes and freeze assets in time, national FIUs and other competent authorities should be able to "access information on beneficial ownership, bank accounts, land or real estate registers." MEPs also want member states to "aggregate information on ownership of goods such as yachts, planes and cars worth over €200 000 or goods stored in free zones."

MEPs agreed that "beneficial ownership" means "having 15% plus one share, or voting rights, or other direct or indirect ownership interest, or 5% plus one share in the extractive industry or a company exposed to a higher risk of money laundering or terrorist financing."

European Anti-Money Laundering Authority:

Risks and threats within and outside the EU would be monitored by the new AMLA, which will also directly supervise specific credit and financial institutions, classifying them according to their risk level. 

To carry out its duties, AMLA could "mandate companies and people to hand over documents and other information, conduct on-site visits with judicial authorisation, and impose sanctions of €500 000 - €2 million, or 0.5-1% percent of annual turnover, for material breaches - and up to 10% of the total annual turnover of the obliged entity in the preceding business year."

The European Parliament will be ready to start negotiations on the AML/CFT package after a confirmation during a plenary session in April.

The draft report said that regulating and taxing cryptoassets at EU level is more efficient than at national level given their high "mobility and cross-border dimension" and stressed that a European tax on cryptoassets would "foster the emergence of a harmonised tax framework for cryptoassets, be more consistent with the cross-border nature of the cryptoassets market, and encourage the adoption of tax standards at the global level".

Several taxation options are possible for cryptoassets, the report says, such as a tax on capital gains resulting from cryptoasset activities (based on a uniform levy rate for all EU Member States), a tax on cryptoasset transactions or a tax on the mining and trading of cryptoassets determined according to their electricity consumption and environmental impact. 

There was a call on the European Commission to assess the impact of these options on the European cryptoasset market, to estimate potential revenues and to come forward with a proposal.