After the Fifth Anti-money laundering Directive: how EU Member States are expected to implement AML/FT regulations

The present paper aims at examining the major innovations introduced by the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, adopted by the European Parliament on 19 April 2018. Money laundering represents one of the most serious criminal phenomena and it is a major factor of contamination for the global economy, as it alters both the features of competition and the correct distribution of resources. In this context, the globalization of financial activity and the development of new technologies paved the way for a more sophisticated form of organized crime, which can now operate mainly by using anonymous instruments or hiding the identities of its members behind a front company. Therefore, appropriate measures have been established to contrast these illegal activities: indeed, now more than ever an effective international cooperation is required, based on mutual judicial assistance and common rules.