PRAGUE, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Czech government on Tuesday approved a law against money laundering under which banks may require documents from their clients conducting transactions over 1000 euros (1477 U.S. dollars).

    If passed by the legislature, the law is to take effect from mid-2008 onwards, the Czech news agency CTK reported.

    According to the existing legislation, banks must only ask for the documents if the sum in question exceeds 100,000 crowns (5591 dollars).

    The new law widens the duties for banks and further financial institutions to supervise and control the transactions of their clients who must prove the purpose of a transaction over 15,000 euros (22,155 dollars) and the origin of the funds.

    "According to official statistics, the damage from the crime has so far amounted to approximately 50 billion crowns (2.8 billion dollars)," Simona Cigankova, spokeswoman for Cyril Svoboda, head of the government legislative team, told CTK earlier.

    However, unofficial estimates put the damage about four times higher.

    Economists said part of the dirty money is in cash and its owners will try to legalize it before the euro is adopted in the Czech Republic.

    The bill also widens the control over suspicious transactions among "politically sensitive persons" living abroad.

    The financial analytical department of the Finance Ministry registers some 3,000 petitions about dubious transactions each year, mostly from the banking sector. Civil servants file some 100-150 criminal lawsuits every year.

    Experts said that tax evasion, insider dealing and bribes are the most frequent sources of dirty money in the country.