New powers not enough to stem ‘dirty money’ flowing into EU banking system – EBA CEO

New powers given to Europe’s banking watchdog are not enough to stem the tide of dirty money sweeping through the bloc that has been revealed by recent scandals, the head of the European Banking Authority said.

In his first interview as chief executive, José Manuel Campa told the Financial Times that the mandate handed to the EBA this year in the wake of Danske Bank’s €200bn money-laundering scandal was a narrow, co-ordinating role rather than one that will ensure even defences across the EU against ill-gotten gains.

“There have been cases of money laundering in Europe, yes in some cases pretty sizeable ones. I’m not saying we have a good system,” Mr Campa said at the EBA’s new Paris headquarters. “But . . . I don’t think the mandate that the EBA has received is the mandate that will solve that problem,” he said. “It is not a mandate to harmonise AML [anti-money laundering], either regulation or practices, across the union. Because to start that process you first need legislation.”

Via FT