EU Commission welcomes agreement on EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority
On 13 December 2023, the European Commission issued a press release expressing its satisfaction with the recent provisional agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the establishment of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). The AMLA, conceived as a decentralised EU regulatory agency, marks a significant development in the supervision of anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing (AML/CFT) activities within the EU.
The new authority is designed to play a central role in coordinating national efforts to ensure the consistent and proper application of EU AML rules. It will directly oversee high-risk financial sector entities, working to enhance cooperation among Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) across the EU. AMLA aims to strengthen the analytical capabilities of FIUs regarding illicit financial flows, positioning financial intelligence as a crucial resource for law enforcement agencies.
The establishment of the AMLA and associated legislation is part of the European Commission’s latest AML proposal package first presented on 20 July 2021. The package also includes:
- An overhaul of current EU AML legislation through a new EU regulation on AML/CFT which is directly applicable across all EU member states (aka the “single rulebook” regulation)
- A 6th EU Directive on AML/CFT
- EU Regulation 2023/1113 a new EU regulation on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto-assets (aka as the Travel Rule regulation)
Our previous blog posts on the EU’s AML package can be found here and the Travel Rule Regulation can be accessed here.
The EU Commission’s official press release can be found here.
