But new amendments have already been proposed in what has become known informally as the 5th Anti Money Laundering Directive, designed to strengthen the compliance of 4AML in light of the recent terrorist attacks in Europe and increase in virtual financing.

Recent media leaks such as the Panama Papers have exposed how some intermediaries actively assist companies and individuals to escape taxation, usually through complex cross-border schemes. Today's proposal aims to tackle such aggressive tax planning by increasing scrutiny around the previously-unseen activities of tax planners and advisers. European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for the Euro and Social Dialogue, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union said: "The EU has become the frontrunner when it comes to bringing more transparency to the world of aggressive tax planning. This work is already reaping results. Today we are proposing to hold responsible the go-betweens who create and sell tax avoidance schemes. Ultimately, this will result in greater tax revenues for Member States."

Terrorist organisations and organised crime need financing – to maintain their criminal networks, to recruit and supply, and to commit terrorist acts themselves. Money laundering allows criminal organisations to benefit from their illegal activities and maintain their operations. In essence, money laundering uses the earnings generated through a multitude of illegal cross-border activities – such as drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, illicit arms trafficking and corruption – to acquire, convert or transfer property, while hiding the true nature of its origin, in order to use the revenues of these crimes in the legitimate economy. A strengthened criminal response to money laundering contributes to cutting off sources of finance and countering the financial incentives which drive crime, making a powerful contribution to the fight against terrorism and organised crime.

The Juncker Commission has made the fight against tax avoidance, money laundering and terrorism financing one of its priorities. The changes proposed today will tackle new means of terrorist financing, increase transparency to combat money laundering and help strengthen the fight against tax avoidance. This Commission proposal is the first initiative to implement the Action Plan for strengthening the fight against terrorist financingof February 2016 and is also part of a broader drive to boost tax transparency and tackle tax abuse. This is why we are, in parallel, also presenting a Communication that responds to the recent Panama Papers revelations.

The core element of the data protection reform package is a general data protection regulation. This regulation updates and modernises the principles of the 1995 Data Protection Directive. It sets out the rights of the individual and establishes the obligations of those processing and those responsible for the processing of the data. It also establishes the methods for ensuring compliance as well as the scope of sanctions for those in breach of the rules.