During today’s hearing with the chairs of the European supervisory authorities (ESAs) EBA, EIOPA and ESMA I asked the chairs of EIOPA and ESMA about their engagement against money laundering. EIOPA and ESMA admitted that they have done little so far and only deploy staff of 0.5 full time equivalent each. The staff is only needed to contribute to the work of the joint committee of the ESAs. The founding regulations of all three ESAs refer explicitly to the EU’s Anti-money Laundering Directive which is so poorly enforced in many Member States.
Sven Giegold, financial and economic policy spokesperson of the Greens/EFA group commented:
“It is poor show that ESMA and EIOPA do basically nothing to fight money laundering. 0.5 FTE staff each is a bad joke. It is disappointing that the two chairs Steven Maijoor and Gabriel Bernardino both failed to commit to do more. We need a firm European supervisory response now. Further legislative changes are needed but all actors have to do now what lies within their powers. Money laundering does not only concern banks but the financial sector as a whole. ESMA and EIOPA need to develop a strategy how to strengthen anti-money laundering supervision within their field of competence.”