The key changes:

• enhance the powers of EU Financial Intelligence Units and facilitating their increasing transparency on who really owns companies and trusts by establishing beneficial ownership registers;
• address the risks associated with the use of virtual currencies and pre-paid cards being used for terrorist financing and money-laundering;
• improve the safeguards for financial transactions to and from high-risk third/non-EU countries;
• expand the authority of Financial Intelligence Units, increasing their access to centralised bank account registers; guarantee that all member states have centralised national bank and payment account registers or central data retrieval systems.

The EU Member States are required to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive by 10 January 2020.