Ukraine takes step toward joining European payments network with anti-graft law

Résumé détaillé

In total, 249 MPs supported Bill No. 14327-d, which brings Ukrainian regulation in line with EU standards, in its first reading, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak from the Holos Party reported on his Telegram channel.

Ukraine’s parliament backed a crucial anti-money laundering law on Nov. 10 as Kyiv takes steps toward joining the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), a network that makes euro transfers faster and cheaper.

In total, 249 MPs supported Bill No. 14327-d, which brings Ukrainian regulation in line with EU standards, in its first reading, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak from the Holos Party reported on his Telegram channel.

It still needs to pass a second reading and be signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky before it goes into effect."With this vote, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) is speeding up Ukraine’s integration into the EU single market," Marta Kos, EU's Enlargement Commissioner, told the Kyiv Independent. "SEPA will allow citizens and businesses in Ukraine to transfer money across Europe under the same conditions as inside the EU. This brings substantial savings. And it allows us to fight financial crimes more effectively together."

If enacted, the legislation will create a central register showing which banks hold a person's accounts or safe-deposit boxes, though not their balances, transaction histories, or the contents of the boxes. Investigators could use the register to find a person's bank accounts without contacting each bank separately and ask courts to freeze assets if necessary.

"Today is a good first step, but it should have been done a year ago," lawmaker Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk, one of the bill’s co-authors, told the Kyiv Independent.

"Unfortunately, we don’t have much time, so we need to adopt it as quickly as we can. Because, in the European Union, the new anti-money laundering laws directive starts in the middle of next year, and the European Payments Council — the body overseeing SEPA — has to approve Ukraine by the end of December."

Currently, there is opposition to the law from some MPs who are concerned about law enforcement accessing financial information in the register amid the country’s largest wartime anti-corruption crackdown…

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Début de l'article, extrait de The Kyiv Independent. Pour lire la suite, ouvrez l'article chez le média.