Financial Institutions Invited to Shape EU AMLA’s Direct Supervision Criteria

Financial institutions are being asked for their input on how the European Union’s new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) will decide which companies to supervise directly. The European Banking Authority (EBA) has extended an invitation to trade associations representing financial firms to attend a virtual roundtable discussion on October 24. The deadline for registration is 16:00 Brussels time on October 16.

Carolin Gardner, head of the EBA’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT) unit, made the announcement in a LinkedIn post, stating that trade groups would play a key role in helping to determine AMLA’s supervision methodology.

“The European Commission asked the EBA for advice on key AMLA mandates, including CDD [customer due diligence] and the methodology AMLA will use to select which firms it will supervise directly,” Gardner wrote. “We are hosting a virtual roundtable with practitioners on 24 October to inform our work.”

AMLA was officially established as a legal entity in June, although it is still in the process of filling key leadership roles, including recruiting a chair and executive board members. The agency’s permanent office is slated to open in Frankfurt in early 2025 and is expected to grow to a staff of 120 by the end of the year.

One of AMLA’s main responsibilities will be the direct supervision of 40 of the EU’s largest banks. These organizations are expected to come under AMLA’s direct supervision starting in January 2028.

At AML Intelligence, some key factors expected to guide the selection of these 40 banks were previously outlined. Although there are approximately 160,000 financial institutions across the EU, AMLA’s focus will be on establishing uniform practices and standardizing regulatory processes for all financial institutions in the bloc. National governments and regulators will be tasked with implementing these standards.

As AMLA continues to take shape, the upcoming roundtable is set to provide valuable input from financial industry representatives as they work together to shape the agency’s future role in fighting money laundering across the EU.

By fLEXI tEAM