The EU's Money Laundering Mania: Why Entrepreneurs Work More Freely in America

From directive to bureaucracy machine

Since 1991, one EU money laundering directive has followed another. The core message: more surveillance, less privacy.

• 4th AMLD (2015): introduction of the Beneficial Owner Register (UBO): the state must know who is behind a company.

• 5th AMLD (2018): public access to this data, including for journalists and NGOs.

• 6th AMLD (2021): more offenses made punishable.

• Next step: AMLA, an EU super-authority based in Frankfurt that is meant to oversee national authorities.

What does that mean? A permanent regime of blanket suspicion.

Many people underestimate what is happening right now. Step by step, Europe is turning into a surveillance state like China.

• DAC8: tax authorities get access to every crypto transaction. Every wallet, every exchange, every token: everything is to be reported.

• MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation): strict licensing requirements for providers, making DeFi practically impossible.

• Digital euro: the abolition of cash in installments. Every payment becomes traceable.

• ChatControl: plans to systematically scan private messages.

• AMLA: a central EU authority with powers like an intelligence service, only for your bank account.

All of this is sold as "protection against terrorism" or "protection against money laundering". In truth, it is about total control.

The hypocritical truth: for the EU, this is not primarily about crime. It is about taxes.

The best example is the French economist Gabriel Zucman, mocked by many as "Professor Tax State". When the EU and the OECD were discussing a wealth tax on the super-rich, he seriously proposed using data from AML registers (UBO registers!) to track down and tax wealth.

This shows that the AML infrastructure is the foundation for future wealth surveillance and wealth taxation. Anyone who thinks this only hits "the rich" is mistaken. Experience shows that such measures always end up landing on small and mid-sized businesses.

Europe: Kafkaesque

A client wanted to open an account in Germany for his new company. The result:

• 3 months of waiting,

• 6 different documents,

• including an explanation of why he needed an account at all (!).
  In the end, a rejection because "the business model is not sufficiently transparent".

USA: fast and pragmatic

At the same time, the same client formed an LLC in Texas.

• Account at a traditional major US bank: opened within a week.

• No endless paperwork.

• No inquisition-style interrogation.

The result: in Europe, wasted time. In the US, business is up and running.

• In Europe: attorneys are forced to collect copies of passports, proof of address and tax assessments. They are an extension of the authorities.

• In the US: attorneys advise. Period. No KYC obligation, no data hoarding.

• In Europe: banks have to check every last detail, often for months.

• In the US: KYC, yes, but pragmatic. An ID, a few details, done.

And: since a FinCEN rule in March 2025, Beneficial Ownership Reporting for domestic US companies is effectively history again. In Europe, by contrast, such registers keep expanding.

The core difference is one of mindset:

• The EU operates on blanket suspicion: every citizen is a potential money launderer.

• The US operates on trust: a citizen is a customer first, not a suspect.

That makes a huge difference in day-to-day business.

The EU's strategy is most obvious when it comes to cryptocurrencies.

• Every transaction is monitored (DAC8).

• Providers are strangled by licensing (MiCA).

• Stablecoins are to circulate only with approval.

The message is clear: decentralization is unwelcome. Everything is meant to go back into the hands of the central banks.

In the US, there is a debate too, but the basic attitude is different. Many states (Texas, Wyoming, Florida) actively court crypto companies. And President Trump has explicitly rejected a digital dollar (CBDC).

• In the EU, you are checked, monitored and registered.

• In the USA, you are treated as an entrepreneur.

That is not a detail. It is a question of the whole system.

Many of my clients have come to the same realization: if you want to protect your wealth and your freedom, you have to leave the EU.

1. UBO leak in Austria: Data from the register ended up in the wrong hands. Business owners became targets of fraud attempts.

2. Crypto hunters in Germany: One client had to document every single transaction from the past five years. A nightmare.

3. Texas as a safe haven: The same client moved his business to the USA, formed an LLC and opened an account. Today everything runs smoothly, without the constant fear of the next letter from the tax office.

Under the pretext of fighting money laundering, the EU is building a system that monitors its citizens the way China does: DAC8, MiCA, AMLA, the digital euro, Chat Control.

In reality, it is about taxes, control and power. Professor Zucman and his followers dream of misusing AML databases as a wealth register for the next wave of taxes.

The USA shows there is another way:

• Lean rules.

• Pragmatism.

• A focus on entrepreneurship, not control.

For anyone who values freedom and privacy, the message is clear: the EU is on its way to becoming a second Soviet Union, while the USA remains a place for entrepreneurs.

If you are wondering how to benefit from what the US has to offer and set up your structures on solid legal ground, we are here to help.

At Mount Bonnell Advisors, we have spent years helping European entrepreneurs expand into the USA. From forming an LLC or corporation to bank accounts and tax optimization.

Get in touch before the EU cuts off your air completely.

Consultation & implementation

If you'd like to find out what this means for your own situation, the best step is to book a consultation.