EU Banks May Face Tighter Laundering Rules After Scathing Report

European Union officials called for a further tightening of the bloc’s anti-money laundering rules after identifying a host of failures that led to scandals across the financial system.

Banks at times completely ignored requirements to stop illicit financial flows and supervisors were ill-equipped and often slow to deal with the issues, the European Commission said on Wednesday. Handing some powers to a common EU body could be one way to improve supervision and avoid a repeat of the situation, it said.