This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
It aims to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other serious offences, through:
Power to access and search bank accounts
Each European Union (EU) Member State must ensure that designated authorities responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes have the power to directly and immediately access and search bank account information, in order to prevent, detect, investigate or prosecute serious criminal offences, including tracing and freezing assets.
In order to ensure a high level of data protection, access and searches are carried out only on a case-by-case basis by staff who:
Moreover, logs of searches are kept and regularly checked by data protection officers.
Information sharing
Member States must ensure that (on a case-by-case basis, and to prevent, detect and combat money laundering, associated crimes and terrorist financing):
All these exchanges of information must respect the national procedural safeguards and be in line with the role and responsibilities of the different authorities, including the autonomy of FIUs to disseminate their analyses.
Requests and responses are transmitted using dedicated secure electronic communications ensuring a high level of data security.
Processing personal data
Monitoring and evaluation
Member States must maintain statistics to review how effective their systems are in combating serious criminal offences.
By 2 August 2024, and every 3 years after that, the European Commission will draw up a report on the implementation of this directive to be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The report will be made public.
The directive repeals Council Decision 2000/642/JHA.
The directive had to be transposed into national law by 1 August 2021. These rules have applied since 1 August 2021.
For further information, see:
Directive (EU) 2019/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 laying down rules facilitating the use of financial and other information for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of certain criminal offences, and repealing Council Decision 2000/642/JHA (OJ L 186, 11.7.2019, pp. 122–137).
Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (‘the EPPO’) (OJ L 283, 31.10.2017, pp. 1–71).
Successive amendments to Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 have been incorporated in the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.
Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC (OJ L 141, 5.6.2015, pp. 73–117).
See consolidated version.
Council Decision 2007/845/JHA of 6 December 2007 concerning cooperation between Asset Recovery Offices of the Member States in the field of tracing and identification of proceeds from, or other property related to, crime (OJ L 332, 18.12.2007, pp. 103–105).
last update 03.08.2022