14 Amendments of Theresa BIELOWSKI related to 2022/2080(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Points out that journalist and whistle-blowers are essential in uncovering cases of tax avoidance and evasion, corruption, organised crime and money laundering; regrets that journalists like Peter R. de Vries, Daphne Caruana Galizia and Jan Kuciak were murdered in relation to journalistic revelations; therefore deems it important to specifically address the protection of journalists in whistle blowers cases;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Highlights that while the whistle blowers directive was adopted in 2019 and the directive includes an obligation to transpose it into national law by 17 December 2021, 16 Member States have delayed its transposition and Hungary has not even started. calls on these Member States to implement this directive with post-haste;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the concealment of beneficial ownership through chains of shell companies can be used not only to circumvent tax legislation, but also to impede the tracking, freezing and confiscation of the proceeds and instrumentalities of crime, as well as to circumvent EU restrictive measures; calls for a complete ban on shell companies through the appropriate legislative means, tackling both the lack of transparency of ownership of such structures but also their ability to benefit from tax residence status;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Recalls that the revelation by Pandora Papers, Paradise Papers, Panama Papers, Suisse secrets, and OpenLux, revealed hidden assets of politically exposed persons such as Mossack Fonseca, Tony Blair, Andrej Babiš, Silvio Berlusconi, and Wopke Hoekstra. remarks that government ministers and lawmakers have the utmost duty to uphold the law to its fullest extent and act in line with the spirit of the law at all times. points out that failing to do so erodes public trust in government, the very fundament of a state and calls on politically exposed persons to report on all current and former financial interests and assets, as well as strong sanctions for failing to do so;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Points out that the Pandora Papers showed that U.S. Trusts have become a go-to vehicle for financial secrecy and remarks that U.S. states like South Dakota, Florida, Delaware, Texas and Nevada make the U.S one of the biggest players in the offshore world; calls on these states to be considered tax havens and be included in the AML and taxation black lists;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Welcomes the adoption of the first final rule on beneficial ownership reporting under the United States (US) Corporate Transparency Act; regrets that the US has been considered the global frontrunner in offering financial secrecy to corporates and individuals; urges the US Treasury Department to proceed with the remaining regulatory process to fully implement the law as soon as possible;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Welcomes the revision of the Recommendation 24 by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which requires countries to prevent the misuse of legal persons for money laundering or terrorist financing; highlights that henceforth countries will have to require beneficial ownership information to be held by a public authority or body functioning as beneficial ownership registry or an alternative mechanism as efficient;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4 d. Stresses that progress in tackling the use of anonymous companies can only be possible if information about beneficial owners is easily available in a timely manner in all jurisdictions, and if authorities are able to make use of that information and cross-check data for investigative purposes;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4 e. Welcomes further that the FATF is conducting a review of Recommendation 25 on the transparency and Beneficial Ownership Information of legal arrangements;
Amendment 24 #
4 f. Stresses that the 5th AMLD requires Member States to set up registers of the beneficial owners of all legal entities established in the EU, including trusts, and grants public access to basic beneficial ownership information about companies by 10 January 2020; deplores that several Member States have delayed implementation of these requirements;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 g (new)
Paragraph 4 g (new)
4 g. Notes with concern that Member States have adopted BO registers in very divergent ways, with different access conditions, different search functions and different mechanisms for data verification, if any; stresses that, as a result, there has been a delay in the setting-up of the Beneficial Ownership Registers Interconnection System (BORIS) due to technical difficulties;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 h (new)
Paragraph 4 h (new)
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Recalls the Parliament’s motion for Resolution on reforming the EU list of tax havens; calls on the EU and Member States to respond to and implement the requests of this resolution in any future review of the Code of conduct on Business Taxation; points out that several individual Member States have more comprehensive blacklists than the EU and calls upon the Commission to reassess countries that appear on a national but not on the EU list and to provide a reasoned explanation for the absence of these countries;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Recalls that the United Arab Emirates feature on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force, a global money laundering watchdog, since March 2002, since the FATF has concluded that the UAE have strategic deficiencies in their regime to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing; stresses that under the Commission’s methodology, where a third country is listed by the FATF, it should automatically be added to the EU list of high risk third countries without further autonomous assessment, through a Delegated Act; regrets that, in this case, the Commission has yet to propose to add the UAE to the EU list; calls for the United Arab Emirates to be identified as a high-risk third country without further delay;