Apparently people will have to report the movement of large amounts of cash across borders

Today, the government approved an amendment to the law against money laundering. The proposal expands the obligations of traders with virtual assets, which includes, for example, cryptocurrencies or collectible NFT tokens, but also plans to introduce an obligation to report to the authorities the transfer of more than 15,000 euros (380,000 crowns) in cash to another EU member state. The standard will now be reviewed by the deputies.

By changing the law, the Ministry of Finance responds to the recommendations of the Council of Europe experts, who considered the current version of the standard to be insufficient. Currently, people have to report the transfer of more than 10,000 euros (254,000 crowns) in cash across the external borders of the EU, which in the Czech Republic only applies to international airports.

According to experts of the Council of Europe, such limited regulation creates a vulnerable spot in the fight against the legalization of the proceeds of crime. The amendment therefore introduces an obligation with a higher limit also for the transfer of cash across the internal borders of the EU, both in person and by post or other delivery service. People will have to notify the owner and recipient of this cash at the request of the Customs Administration and explain why they are transporting this cash.

Another tightening applies to traders of virtual assets. Newly, when identifying clients, they will have to obtain information about the identity of the originator or recipient of the virtual asset transfer. Their obligations will thus come closer to those of other financial and credit institutions when screening clients.

The Anti-Money Laundering Act, also referred to by the English abbreviation AML, makes it possible to identify the real owners of companies, to check the origin of assets or suspicious financial transactions. The law imposes the obligation to vet clients in particular on business entities that may participate in transactions that can potentially be misused for money laundering or terrorist financing. This applies to, among others, credit institutions, real estate agencies, auditors or trustees of trust funds.