November 29 2016
The European Parliament has voted in favor of proposals to require the automatic exchange of information held by authorities responsible for the prevention of money laundering. MEPs agreed to update Directive 2011/16/EU by 590 votes to 32, with 64 abstentions. Member states must implement the amended directive before the end of 2017. The new rules will enable and oblige tax authorities with anti-money laundering responsibilities in any EU country to automatically share information such as bank account balances, interest income, and dividends with their counterparts in other EU member states.