EU bans cash payments over €10k in battle against terrorism and organised crime

The European Parliament has announced that payments of €10,000 or more paid in cash are now illegal. The new law is an attempt to fight back against fraudsters, terrorists and organised crime professionals who use huge cash payments to “legitimise their profits”.

The new legislation also makes it harder for money laundering and terrorist financing through banks, estate agents and casinos. These organisations will now have to identify their customers or the owners of assets behind “opaque” financial arrangements, reports Economie.

The crypto assets sector will also be impacted to bring more traceability to the sector, while trade in luxury goods will also be affected – sales in precious metals, jewellery, watches, and high-end cars, yachts and jets will all be subject to the new rules.

Some EU countries – as well as the UK – had already made the payment of over €10,000 in cash subject to declaration to the authorities, although the act of paying it in cash was legal.

For example, anything above €1,000 in France needed to be declared, while it was €3,000 in Belgium and € 15,000 in Poland. Others, such as Austria and Germany, had – until now – no limits on cash payments.

It was found by a study by Ecorys that a universal legal limit was needed, as otherwise illegal activity could just cross borders to unaffected countries, before reverting back into the same place it had come from.