Brussels, 13 December 2023
The EU Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached today between the European Parliament and the Council on the Commission’s proposal to establish an EU anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing (AML/CFT) Authority in the form of a decentralised EU regulatory agency (AMLA).
The creation of the new EU Authority will transform AML/CFT supervision in the EU and enhance cooperation among Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). AMLA will be the central authority coordinating national authorities to ensure the correct and consistent application of EU rules. In the financial sector, the Authority will directly supervise those financial sector entities exposed to the highest risk of money laundering and terrorism financing. AMLA will also support FIUs to improve their analytical capacity around illicit flows and make financial intelligence a key source for law enforcement agencies. The Authority will facilitate cooperation between FIUs, including by establishing standards for reporting and information exchange, supporting joint operational analyses, and by hosting the central online system, FIU.net.
This Commission proposal was part of the AML legislative package presented in July 2021, which also included a new Regulation establishing a single rulebook for AML/CFT, and a new AML/CFT Directive. These aspects are still under discussion by the co-legislators.
Mairead McGuinness, Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, said:
“AMLA will be a game-changer in the fight against money laundering. It will be the center of our new supervisory system, as a supervisor in some cases and as a coordinator of supervisors in others, setting high standards across the EU.The only remaining issues are the decisions on the AMLA seat and its budget, to be reached in the next trilogues. We welcome the aspirations of both co-legislators to ensure that the process of seat selection is transparent and based on objective criteria, and hope to have a conclusion soon. Today’sagreement shows the strong political will and commitment of the European Parliament and Council to step-up our efforts to stop dirty money being washed through the financial system.”
Source – EU Commission