The package covers:

• The establishment of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA)
• An overhaul of current EU AML legislation through a new EU regulation on AML/CFT which is directly applicable across all EU member states (the Single Rulebook Regulation)
• A 6th EU Directive on AML/CFT (AMLD6)

AMLA will be established in Frankfurt to monitor the new EU rules addressing AML/CFT and will take over the supervision of high-risk financial institutions (FIUs) including the ones that provide services related to crypto assets.

The Single Rulebook Regulation will harmonise certain areas of AML/CFT across the EU, including the areas of customer due diligence and beneficial ownership. This will also expand the definition of obliged entities to the crypto-asset sector and to new bodies including football clubs and crowdfunding service providers.

AMLD6 deals with rules on identifying AML/CFT risks at a Member State level, beneficial ownership registers, national supervisors, and financial intelligence units. Notably, this will provide stakeholders with a legitimate interest such as journalists, civil society organisations, and competent and supervisory authorities, will have an immediate access to beneficial ownership information stored in national registries.

The new AML regulation will take effect three years after publication in the EU’s Official Journal and member states will have two to three years to implement the directive’s provisions.

The European Council’s press release can be accessed here and the press release of the European Parliament can be found here.

Our previous blog post on the EU’s AML package can be found here.