The Council and Parliament reached a provisional agreement on creating a new European authority for countering money laundering and terrorist financing (AMLA). The goal is to protect EU citizens and the EU’s financial system by boosting the efficiency of the current AML/CFT framework through an integrated mechanism with national supervisors to ensure certain entities comply with the AML/CFT obligations.

AMLA will have supervisory powers over high-risk obliged entities in the financial sector. It will also have a supporting role in non-financial sectors and coordinate with financial intelligence units in member states. The future location of the new agency’s seat is yet to be determined. AMLA will have the authority to supervise up to 40 groups and entities in its first selection of credit and financial institutions that represent a high risk in several member states. The selected obliged entities will be supervised by joint teams led by AMLA that will carry out assessments and inspections.

Additionally, the provisional agreement expands the scope of AMLA’s supervisory database by requesting the Authority establish and maintain a central database of information relevant for the AML/CFT supervisory system. AMLA will have a general board composed of representatives of supervisors and Financial Intelligence Units from all members states as well as an executive board.

Next, the provisional agreement will be presented to member states’ representatives and the European Parliament for approval.

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