William Bull

This book maps the newly-amended Belgian 'Preventative Anti-Money Laundering Law' (PAML) and its application to the professional football sector in Belgium, examining the goals it is designed to achieve, its primary legal implications for the football sector, and its likely effects. In so doing, this exploratory study aims to provide a preliminary evaluation of the application of the anti-money laundering framework to the sector of professional football in Belgium. This publication is the first to provide an in depth overview of the content, requirements and obligations of the PAML as well as an initial appraisal of this extension of the PAML from both a doctrinal and theoretical perspective. Furthermore, the interviews that were conducted as part of the underlying research provide some of the first reactions and expectations relating to the extension of the PAML from stakeholders 'on the ground'. While this book is primarily concerned with the national context of the PAML and its application to the professional football sector in Belgium, the content of this study and the recommendations and best practices that are formulated on the back of it will be of interest to any country contemplating the extension of its AML framework to professional football, and to any football actors (particularly professional clubs, players' agents and governing bodies) operating within those jurisdictions, not to mention interested football fans.

This rise of a particular kind of European Union legislation known as the 'optional instrument' is a novel trend in the context of EU law, and one that until now has not been comprehensively mapped or explored. This study examines and discusses existing and proposed EU Optional Instruments (OIs) in different fields of European law, including company law, intellectual property law and procedural law (such as the European Company, the Community Trade Mark and the European Small Claims Procedure, respectively), as well as contract law. The study identifies the core elements that define Optional Instruments of the EU and distinguish them from other kinds of EU legislation, especially so-called approximating measures. It provides a detailed overview of a total of twelve OIs in the aforementioned policy areas, charting their development, characteristics and (where appropriate) usage in practice. It investigates the case for and against the use of optional instruments as an alternative means of EU law-making, by analyzing and evaluating the principal arguments in the debate surrounding the use of this legislative method. Finally, it offers an explanation of the varied degree of 'success' of EU OIs already in existence, by identifying possible factors that play a role in this respect and testing the significance of these factors with reference to available empirical data. In doing so, the author provides a framework for future research into this developing phenomenon, as well as guidance for the elaboration of future Optional Instruments of the European Union.