This book introduces and contextualizes the revised and strengthened legislation on the laundering of criminal funds mandated by the European Union on the 20th May 2015. The authors provide fresh and new insight into the EU’s fourth directive 2015/849, with a specific focus on topics such as: beneficial ownership and effective transparency, the risk-based approach, the issue of supervision of payment institutions that operate across borders by agents, the new method of risk assessment, tax crimes inclusion in “criminal activity” definition, and the effects of new rules on the gambling sector. The authors present the new laws in the context of their legal genealogy and demonstrate the benefits they bring in raising the standards for anti-money laundering regulation and counter-terrorism financing. The book’s comprehensive exploration of this new legislation will appeal to policy-makers, students and academics hoping to understand the changes more clearly. .