On 19 April 2018, the European Parliament adopted the proposal for the fifth Anti-money Laundering (AML) Directive, which will make a number of changes to the fourth AML Directive, implemented in Belgium by the Anti-money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act and in effect since 16 October 2017.
On 22 May 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) adopted two decisions implementing temporary product intervention measures.
De taks op effectenrekeningen werd vorige zomer aangekondigd en heeft sindsdien veel inkt doen vloeien. In een publicatie van 5 oktober 2017 hadden we het reeds over de aspecten van deze hervorming die een impact hebben voor de investeerders.
On 16 October 2017, new, more flexible rules on cash payments came into force, introduced by the Law of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and the restriction on the use of cash.
The term ICO stands for ‘Initial Coin Offering’, a rather obvious reference to IPOs (‘Initial Public Offering’). Like IPOs, ICOs can be described as a means of raising public funds.
The reform of security interests over movable assets finally took effect on 1 January 2018. The original law dated 11 July 2013 (the “Law”) was meant to enter into force by late 2014 but experienced repetitive delays.
A new Law dated 21 December 2017 amends the Belgian Law relating to the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises ( the “SME Financing Law”).
Today(the 9th of November 2017), the Belgian Act amending the Act of 12 May 2014 on regulated real estate companies (the “Reviewed REITs Act”) was published in the Belgian Official Journal.
The complete text of the Reviewed REITs Act can be found here
On 5 October 2017, the bill amending the Regulated Real Estate Companies Act of 12 May 2014 (“GVV-wet”) was approved by the Chamber of Representatives and submitted to the King for ratification.
Among other measures designed to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, the 4th Money Laundering Directive requires the EU member states to set up registers of the ultimate beneficial owners of legal entities.
