Directive 2005/60/EC and Its Application to French 'Avocats'

May 2008
Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law
DOWNLOAD PDF: Directive 2005/60/EC and Its Application to French 'Avocats'

The French government has decided to go ahead and implement into domestic law directive 2005/60/EC, dated 26 October 2005 (the 'Third EU Money Laundering Directive').

In the meantime, the deadline for implementation (15 December 2007) has passed. Therefore, the Third EU Money Laundering Directive has direct effect in France.

The Ordre des Avocats de Paris (amongst others) is campaigning to ensure that the transposing legislation preserves client confidentiality. Writing in the Bulletin du Barreau de Paris dated 29 January 2008, Christian Charrière-Bournazel, Bâtonnier de l'Ordre des Avocats de Paris, cited with approval, decision number 10/2008 of the constitutional court of Belgium (dated 23 January 2008). This decision concerns the legislation which transposed directive 2001/97/EC (also known as the Second EU Money Laundering Directive) into Belgian law. The decision examines two conceptswhich are key to the transposition of the Third EU Money Laundering Directive: the filter provided by the bâtonnier and the prohibition on tipping-off. This article examines those issues.