The Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) will gradually become operational from mid-2025. Direct supervision of a certain group of financial institutions will then begin in 2028.
In this article, we provide an overview of the legal basis, funding, structure, tasks and powers of the authority.
Legal basis
The European Commission’s so-called EU Anti-Money Laundering Package , which provides for changes to the laws and regulations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, includes the Regulation establishing a European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (“AMLA Regulation“). According to Art. 3 of the AMLA Regulation, the authority is a Union body with its own legal personality and has the capacity to be a party to legal proceedings.
Structure and financing of AMLA
The AMLA will be based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
The authority, which will have around 400 employees, will be represented by its Chair of Authority. On 21 January 2025, the Council appointed the Italian Bruna Szego to this post. The further administrative and management structure is set out in Art. 56 AMLA Regulation and comprises a General Board, an Executive Board, an Executive Director and an Administrative Board of Review.
In accordance with Art. 16 AMLA Regulation, a so-called joint supervisory team is set up to supervise each selected obliged entity. This team consists of employees of the national supervisory authority and employees of the AMLA and is to be headed by an AMLA employee who coordinates all supervisory activities of the team (so-called “JST coordinator”).
In the event of indications of serious money laundering offences, an independent investigatory team is formed from among the AMLA staff in accordance with Art. 27 AMLO Regulation.
The Executive Board will decide on the internal language rules. Communication with the respective obligated party will take place in one of the official languages of the EU, as chosen by the obligated party.
From 2028, around 30% of the authority’s funding will come from the EU budget and around 70% from financial contributions paid by certain companies in the financial sector. The fees levied on certain obliged entities are to be proportionate and particular consideration is to be given to whether the obliged entities are subject to direct supervision and what their risk profile and turnover are. For 2028, the total costs to be covered by these fees are currently estimated at EUR 65 million.
Tasks and authorisations
The AMLA will take on various tasks. In particular, it will directly supervise certain high-risk obliged entities. To this end, the corresponding joint supervisory team will, among other things, carry out reviews and assessments, request information from the obliged entities (Art. 17 AMLA Regulation), coordinate pre-inspections (Art. 19 AMLA Regulation), participate in the preparation of draft decisions and liaise with the national financial supervisors.
If there are indications of serious violations of money laundering law, the independent investigatory team will investigate the facts in accordance with Art. 27 AMLA Regulation and obtain statements from the persons subject to the investigation.
The authority can impose fines and periodic penalty payments if violations are detected.
In addition, the AMLA will support the EU Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). It will not itself be an FIU and will not replace the national FIUs, which will continue to be the sole recipients of suspicious transaction reports and responsible for the national dissemination of the results of analyses of such reports. However, the Authority will facilitate cooperation, information exchange and the identification of best practices between FIUs by setting standards for reporting and information exchange – by initiating or organising and supporting joint operational analyses. The AMLA will host and manage the FIU.net website in accordance with Art. 47 AMLA Regulation.
The AMLA will also carry out analyses, exercise its legislative powers and develop technical regulatory standards and practical administrative guidelines.
