Transposition of AMLD IV & V: Cyprus

Maximilian Henning made this access to documents request to Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

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Waiting for an internal review by Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union of their handling of this request.

Dear Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union,

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting:

All documents related to the state of transposition of the Anti-money laundering directives IV and V by Cyprus, especially those concerning the EU’s assessments of these transpositions and any potential reaction taken to it, including discussions of potential or actual infringement procedures.

Yours faithfully,

Maximilian Henning

Sg-Acc-Doc@ec.europa.eu, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your request for access to documents.

Unfortunately, you have not indicated your postal address. This is necessary for registering and handling your request in line with the procedural requirements.

Please send us your full postal address at your earliest convenience. Pending your reply, we reserve the right to refuse the registration of your request.

Alternatively, you may use directly the electronic form available on the Europa website:

]http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/....

Yours faithfully,

Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency

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Dear Access to documents team,

My postal address is as follows:

Spain
Madrid
Cava de San Miguel 8
4º centro

Yours sincerely,

Maximilian Henning

SG ACCES DOCUMENTS, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    RE access to documents request Transposition of AMLD IV V Lithuania.html

    1K Download

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your e-mail of 04/02/2022. We hereby acknowledge receipt of
your application for access to documents, which was registered on
04/02/2022 under reference number GESTDEM 2022/753.

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, your application
will be handled within 15 working days.

The time limit will expire on 25/02/2022. In case this time limit needs to
be extended, you will be informed in due course.

You have lodged your application via a private third-party website, which
has no link with any institution of the European Union.
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Yours faithfully,

Access to documents team (cr)
SG.C.1
Transparency

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FISMA-ACCES-DOCUMENTS@ec.europa.eu, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

Dear Mr Henning,

Subject: Your application for access to documents – Ref GestDem No 2022/

We refer to yours e-mails dated 03/02/2022 in which you make a request for
access to documents, registered on 04/02/2022 under the above mentioned
reference number.

Your applications are currently being handled. However, we will not be in
a position to complete the handling of your application within the time
limit, which expires on 25/02/2022. We must therefore extend the deadline
for your requests until 18/03/2022.

We thank you in advance for your understanding and do our best to answer
your request as soon as possible.

Fisma Acces Documents Team

 

 

 

FISMA D2, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

2 Attachments

Please find attached document Ares(2022)1554275 from Mr John BERRIGAN (FISMA) dated 02/03/2021.

Maximilian Henning

Dear Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union,

I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents requests GESTDEM 2022/0753, 2022/0754, 2022/0755, 2022/0756, 2022/0757.

On February 3, 2022, I had requested the following:

“All documents related to the state of transposition of the Anti-money laundering directives IV and V” for Cyprus, Denmark, Hungary, Italy and Lithuania, “especially those concerning the EU’s assessments of these transpositions and any potential reaction taken to it, including discussions of potential or actual infringement procedures.”

On March 2, 2022, you denied my request, stating that partial access could not be granted either.

I would like to ask you to reconsider your decision for the following reasons:

• The harm test under Article 4(2) third indent has not been explicitly proven

You based your refusal to disclose the documents I had request on the exception laid down in Article 4(2) third indent of Regulation 1049/2001. According to this, requests shall be refused
“where disclosure would undermine the protection of […] the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits, unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.”

You stated that the refusal of my request

“is based on the negative effects that the disclosure would have on the conduct of investigations by the Commission in the framework of the assessment of the implementation and effective application of the 4th and 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive in the Member States which are closely interlinked. At the current status of investigations, the disclosure would undermine the protection of investigations aims. We consider that the disclosure of the document would affect the climate of mutual trust between the authorities of the Member State concerned and the Commission.”

You also referred to the Petrie judgment, saying it supported the protection of documents related to infringement proceedings.[1]

In Case T-233/09, the General Court confirmed that simply because a document concerns an interest protected by an exception, that is not sufficient to make it subject to that exception. It is not sufficient that the disclosure of a document could bring a hypothetical harm to a protected interest; there must be a reasonably foreseeable risk. The institution deciding on disclosure must weigh the specific interest which must be protected through non-disclosure with the general interest in documents being made accessible.[2]

In only claiming that the disclosure would affect a climate of mutual trust between Member States and the Commission, a reasonably foreseeable, non-hypothetical harm to the purpose of an investigation has not been concretely demonstrated, especially not to such a level that would compensate denying a citizen their fundamental right of access to documents.

• The overriding public interest test under Article 4(2) in disclosure has not been properly considered.

Two to five percent of global GDP are laundered each year.[3] In the EU, this would mean a sum of 268 to 670 billion Euros in 2020 alone.[4] The public has a very high interest in preventing this vast amount of money from being redirected through criminal channels. This interest can be ascertained from several high-profile investigations throughout the years, including the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Luxembourg Leaks, Paradise Papers, Panama Papers, and Pandora Papers.[5]

The EU has recognised this interest throughout the years with extensive legislation, especially including the various Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directives. The public’s interest therefore also extends to the proper transposition of these Directives by the EU member states, which includes an interest in the disclosure of documents related to infringement procedures opened in regard to these transpositions. As the Court has stated in Case C-280/11 P, responding to this public interest through openness, including access to documents, results in an administration with increased legitimacy, higher effectiveness and more accountability.[6]

It is precisely because the investigations are ongoing that documents related to them should be disclosed:

“If citizens are to be able to exercise their democratic rights, they must be in a position to follow in detail the decision-making process within the institutions taking part in the legislative procedures and to have access to all relevant information.”[7]

There is a pressing need and urgency for beneficial ownership registers to be put in place, but transposition of the AML Directives and infringement procedures related to them have been ongoing for several years: In the case of Cyprus and Lithuania since 2017, for Denmark since 2018 and for Italy and Hungary since 2019. The public has the right to know why there are significant delays in the process.

For all these reasons, there can be no doubt that the public interest in participating in an informed discussion on the proper transposition of the AML Directives is very high. It should therefore be taken into consideration when deciding if the public interest in disclosure of these documents outweighs the harm caused by disclosure.

Yours faithfully,

Maximilian Henning

----

[7] Case T-191/99, judgement of 11 December 2001, [2001] ECR-11-3677.
[2] Case T-233/09, judgement of 22 March 2011, ECLI:EU:T:2011:105.
[3] https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/money-lau...
[4] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/produc...
[5] Luxembourg Leaks: https://www.icij.org/investigations/luxe...
Paradise Papers: https://www.icij.org/investigations/para...
Panama Papers: https://www.icij.org/investigations/pana...
Pandora Papers: https://www.icij.org/investigations/pand...
[6] Case C-280/11 P, judgement of 17 October 2013, ECLI:EU:C:2013:671.
[7] Case T-233/09, judgement of 22 March 2011, ECLI:EU:T:2011:105.

Sg-Acc-Doc@ec.europa.eu, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

Your message has been received by the Transparency Unit of the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission.
Requests for public access to documents are treated on the basis of
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
The Secretariat-General will reply to your request within 15 working days
upon registration of your request and will duly inform you of the
registration of the request (or of any additional information to be
provided in view of its registration and/or treatment).
 
 
L’unité «Transparence» du secrétariat général de la Commission européenne
a bien reçu votre message.
Les demandes d’accès du public aux documents sont traitées sur la base du
[2]règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l’accès du public
aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission.
Le secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours
ouvrables à compter de la date d’enregistrement de votre demande, et vous
informera de cet enregistrement (ou vous indiquera toute information
supplémentaire à fournir en vue de l'enregistrement et/ou du traitement de
votre demande).
 
 
Ihre Nachricht ist beim Referat „Transparenz“ des Generalsekretariats der
Europäischen Kommission eingegangen.
Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden auf der Grundlage der
[3]Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der
Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und
der Kommission behandelt.
Das Generalsekretariat beantwortet Ihre Anfrage innerhalb von
15 Arbeitstagen nach deren Registrierung und wird Sie über die
Registrierung Ihres Antrags (oder die Notwendigkeit weiterer Informationen
im Hinblick auf dessen Registrierung und/oder Bearbeitung) unterrichten.
 
 

References

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SG ACCES DOCUMENTS, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

4 Attachments

  • Attachment

    Confirmatory application GESTDEM 2022 0753 2022 0754 2022 0755 2022 0756 and 2022 0757.txt

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    Confirmatory application.pdf

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  • Attachment

    Internal review of access to documents request Transposition of AMLD IV V Cyprus.html

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Dear Sir,

Thank you for your emails dated 15 March 2022 by which you request,
pursuant to Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents, a review of the position
taken by DG FISMA in reply to your initial applications GESTDEM 2022/0753,
2022/0754, 2022/0755, 2022/0756 and 2022/0757.

We hereby acknowledge receipt of your confirmatory application for access
to documents which was registered on 16 March 2022 (Ares(2022)1933050).

Your application will be handled within 15 working days (06/04/2022). In
case this time limit needs to be extended, you will be informed in due
course.

Please be informed that the answer to your confirmatory application is a
formal Commission decision that will be notified to you by express
delivery. Thank you for providing your contact phone number, so that the
external delivery service can contact you in case of absence.

Please note that the Commission will not use your phone number for any
other purpose than for informing the delivery service, and that it will
delete it immediately thereafter.

Yours faithfully,

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS TEAM (GD)

 

[5]cid:image001.png@01D45409.F767C980

European Commission

Secretariat-General

SG C.1

[6][email address]

 

 

 

 

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SG ACCES DOCUMENTS, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

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Dear Mr Henning,

 

I refer to your e-mail of 15 March 2022, registered on 16 March 2022, by
which you submit a confirmatory application in accordance with Article
7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents (‘Regulation 1049/2001’) and
you request a review of the position taken by DG FISMA in reply to your
initial applications GESTDEM 2022/0753, 2022/0754, 2022/0755, 2022/0756
and 2022/0757.

 

Your confirmatory application is currently being handled. Unfortunately,
we have not yet been able to gather all the elements needed to carry out a
full analysis of your request and to take a final decision. Therefore, we
are not in a position to reply to your confirmatory request within the
prescribed time limit expiring today.

 

Consequently, we have to extend this period by another 15 working days in
accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation 1049/2001. The new deadline
expires on 2 May 2022.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

 

Mariusz Daca, Ph.D.
Deputy Head of Unit

European Commission

Secretariat General

Unit C.1 (Transparency, Document Management and Access to Documents)

 

 

 

References

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