European Parliament Imposes Money Laundering Due Diligence on Professionals

On April 5, 2001, the European Parliament voted to impose anti-money laundering due diligence obligations on lawyers, accountants and other professional advisers of clients on investment matters. As a result, when they advise clients on investment matters managing financial accounts, creating companies or trusts or executing financial transactions, lawyers, auditors, external accountants and tax advisers will be subject to the same requirements to “Know Your Customer” and “Identify and Report Suspicious Transactions” as banks and other credit institutions…[more]