The Belgian Parliament's Finance Committee has decided to hold hearings on the fight against money laundering: on Tuesday, it backed a request from the Socialist Party (PS) to hear from a number of players in this regard.
The Socialists made the request following new revelations in the case of suspected money laundering by former European Commissioner and former Finance Minister Didier Reynders (MR).
Le Soir revealed last week that the National Bank had opened an inspection procedure against ING Bank after it waited several years before informing the authorities on the suspicions hanging over Mr Reynders due to substantial cash deposits he had regularly made.
"We understand there is a problem," said Hugue Bayet (PS). "I want this committee to ensure that our rules are properly followed. If I believe what I read in the press, this is not the case."
The PS request received the support of seven votes against four (N-VA and Open VLD) and one abstention, from the MR.
The liberals was not enthusiastic about supporting the organisation of hearings, as the National Bank's control investigation had not yet delivered its results and Reynders was already the subject of legal proceedings.
"If I vote in favour, some consequences will be drawn, if I vote against, others will be drawn (...) I understand that this is political fun," commented Benoît Piedboeuf, leader of the MR group.
"As long as there is no government, we can keep busy, but I'm not going to take a position in a debate like this one," he explained.
