Regulation (EU) 2024/1620 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2024 establishing the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and amending Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010, (EU) No 1094/2010 and (EU) No 1095/2010 (Text with EEA relevance)

CHAPTER I

ESTABLISHMENT, LEGAL STATUS AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Establishment and scope of action

The objective of the Authority shall be to protect the public interest, the stability and integrity of the Union’s financial system, and the proper functioning of the internal market by:

(a) preventing the use of the Union’s financial system for the purposes of money laundering and terrorist financing (‘ML/TF’);

(b) contributing to the identification and assessment of ML/TF risks and threats across the internal market, as well as risks and threats originating from outside the Union that impact, or have the potential to impact, the internal market;

(c) ensuring high-quality supervision in the area of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (‘AML/CFT’) across the internal market;

(d) contributing to supervisory convergence in the area of AML/CFT across the internal market;

(e) contributing to the harmonisation of practices in the detection of suspicious transactions or activities by Financial Intelligence Units (‘FIUs’);

(f) supporting and coordinating the exchange of information between FIUs, and between FIUs and other competent authorities.

The provisions of this Regulation are without prejudice to the powers of the Commission, in particular pursuant to Article 258 TFEU, to ensure compliance with Union law.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, in addition to the definitions set out in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 and Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘selected obliged entity’ means a credit institution, a financial institution, or a group of credit institutions or financial institutions at the highest level of consolidation in the Union in accordance with applicable accounting standards, which is under direct supervision by the Authority pursuant to Article 13;

(2) ‘non-selected obliged entity’ means a credit institution, a financial institution, or a group of credit institutions or financial institutions at the highest level of consolidation in the Union in accordance with applicable accounting standards, other than a selected obliged entity;

(3) ‘AML/CFT supervisory system’ means the Authority and the supervisory authorities in Member States;

(4) ‘non-AML/CFT authority’ means: (a) a competent authority as defined in Article 4(1), point (40), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹); (b) the European Central Bank (ECB), when it carries out the tasks conferred on it by Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013; (c) a resolution authority designated in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 2014/59/EU; (d) a designated authority as defined in Article 2(1), point (18), of Directive 2014/49/EU; (e) a competent authority as defined in Article 3(1), point (35), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114.

Article 3

Legal status

Article 4

Seat

The Authority shall have its seat in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

CHAPTER II

TASKS AND POWERS OF THE AUTHORITY

SECTION 1

Tasks and powers

Article 5

Tasks

The Authority shall perform the following tasks with respect to ML/TF risks facing the internal market:

(a) monitor developments across the internal market and assess threats, vulnerabilities and risks in relation to ML/TF;

(b) monitor developments in third countries and assess threats, vulnerabilities and risks in relation to their AML/CFT systems that have an actual or potential impact on the internal market;

(c) collect and analyse information, from its own supervisory activities and those of the supervisors and supervisory authorities, on weaknesses identified in the application of AML/CFT rules by obliged entities, the risk exposure of obliged entities, the sanctions imposed and the remedial actions taken;

(d) establish a central AML/CFT database of information collected from supervisory authorities or stemming from the Authority’s activities, and keep it up to date;

(e) analyse the information collected in the central database and share those analyses with supervisors, supervisory authorities and non-AML/CFT authorities on a need-to-know and confidential basis;

(f) support the analysis of risks of ML/TF and of non-implementation and evasion of targeted financial sanctions affecting the internal market, referred to in Article 7 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640;

(g) support, facilitate and strengthen cooperation and exchange of information between obliged entities and supervisors, supervisory authorities and non-AML/CFT authorities in order to develop a common understanding of ML/TF risks and threats facing the internal market, including by participating in partnerships for information sharing in the field of AML/CFT;

(h) issue publications and provide training, as well as other services on demand, in order to raise awareness of, and address, ML/TF risks;

(i) report to the Commission any instances where the Authority, in the performance of its tasks, discovers that a Member State has transposed Directive (EU) 2024/1640 incorrectly or incompletely;

(j) undertake any other specific task set out in this Regulation or in the other legislative acts referred to in Article 1(2);

(k) assist the Commission in reviewing the application of the relevant regulatory and implementing technical standards adopted by the Commission, review the application of the guidelines and recommendations issued by the Authority and propose amendments, where appropriate, including amendments to: (i) remove redundant or obsolete reporting requirements and minimise costs while preserving data usability and quality; (ii) ensure proportionate and consistent reporting requirements; and (iii) address regulatory gaps related to reporting requirements.

The Authority shall perform the following tasks with respect to selected obliged entities:

(a) ensure compliance of the selected obliged entities with the requirements applicable to them pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 and Regulation (EU) 2023/1113, including obligations related to the implementation of targeted financial sanctions;

(b) carry out supervisory reviews and assessments at the level of individual entities and at group-wide level in order to determine whether the internal policies, procedures and controls put in place by the selected obliged entities are adequate to comply with the requirements applicable to them, and on the basis of those supervisory reviews and assessments impose specific requirements, apply administrative measures and impose pecuniary sanctions and periodic penalty payments pursuant to Articles 21, 22 and 23;

(c) participate in group-wide supervision, in particular in AML/CFT supervisory colleges, including where a selected obliged entity is part of a group that has headquarters, subsidiaries or branches outside the Union;

(d) develop and keep up to date a system to assess the risks and vulnerabilities of the selected obliged entities, in order to inform the supervisory activities of the Authority and the supervisory authorities, including through the collection of data from those entities by means of structured questionnaires and other online or offline tools.

The Authority shall perform the following tasks with respect to financial supervisors:

(a) maintain an up-to-date list of financial supervisors within the Union;

(b) carry out periodic assessments to ensure that all financial supervisors have adequate resources, powers and strategies necessary for the performance of their tasks in the area of AML/CFT, and make the results of such assessments available;

(c) take, in response to a request by financial supervisors for the Authority to assume direct supervision or on the Authority’s own initiative, appropriate measures in exceptional circumstances requiring the Authority’s intervention and related to non-selected obliged entities’ compliance or risk exposure;

(d) facilitate the functioning of the AML/CFT supervisory colleges in the financial sector;

(e) contribute, in collaboration with financial supervisors, to the convergence of supervisory practices and the promotion of high supervisory standards in the area of AML/CFT, including in relation to verification of compliance with AML/CFT requirements related to targeted financial sanctions;

(f) coordinate staff and information exchanges among financial supervisors in the Union in the area of AML/CFT;

(g) provide assistance, in the area of AML/CFT, to financial supervisors, following their specific requests, including requests to mediate between financial supervisors;

(h) settle, with binding effect, disagreements between financial supervisors concerning the measures to be taken in relation to an obliged entity, including in the context of AML/CFT supervisory colleges, following a specific request as referred to in point (g).

The Authority shall perform the following tasks with respect to non-financial supervisors:

(a) maintain an up-to-date list of non-financial supervisors within the Union;

(b) coordinate peer reviews of supervisory standards and practices in the area of AML/CFT;

(c) in the area of AML/CFT, investigate potential breaches or non-application of Union law by non-financial supervisors and public authorities overseeing self-regulatory bodies, issue recommendations on how to remedy the identified breaches and, where the supervisors or public authorities do not comply with the recommendations, issue warnings identifying the measures to be implemented to mitigate the effects of the breach;

(d) carry out periodic reviews to ensure that all non-financial supervisors have adequate resources and powers necessary for the performance of their tasks in the area of AML/CFT;

(e) contribute to the convergence of supervisory practices and the promotion of high supervisory standards in the area of AML/CFT;

(f) facilitate the functioning of AML/CFT supervisory colleges in the non-financial sector;

(g) provide assistance to non-financial supervisors, following their specific requests, such as requests to mediate between non-financial supervisors in the event of a disagreement on the measures to be taken in relation to an obliged entity, including in the context of AML/CFT supervisory colleges.

Where supervision of specific sectors is delegated at national level to self-regulatory bodies, the Authority shall exercise the tasks set out in the first subparagraph in relation to supervisory authorities overseeing the activities of those bodies.

The Authority shall perform the following tasks with respect to FIUs and their activities in Member States:

(a) maintain an up-to-date list of FIUs within the Union;

(b) monitor changes in the legal framework of FIUs, as well as in their organisation, focusing on resources for the performance of their tasks;

(c) support the work of FIUs and contribute to improved cooperation and coordination between FIUs;

(d) contribute to the identification and the selection of relevant cases for the conduct of joint analyses by FIUs;

(e) develop appropriate methods and procedures for the conduct of joint analyses by FIUs of cross-border cases;

(f) set up, coordinate, organise and facilitate the conduct of joint analyses carried out by FIUs;

(g) provide assistance to FIUs, upon their specific requests, such as requests for mediation in the case of a disagreement between FIUs;

(h) conduct peer reviews of the activities of FIUs aimed at strengthening their consistency and effectiveness and identifying best practices;

(i) develop and make available to FIUs tools and services to enhance their analysis capabilities, as well as IT and artificial intelligence services and tools for secure information sharing, including by hosting FIU.net;

(j) develop, share and promote expert knowledge on detection, analysis, and dissemination methods of suspicious transactions;

(k) at the request of FIUs, provide them with specialised training and assistance, including through the provision of financial support, within the scope of the Authority’s objectives and in accordance with the staffing and budgetary resources at its disposal;

(l) support, at the request of FIUs, their interaction with obliged entities by providing expert knowledge to obliged entities, including improving their awareness and procedures to detect suspicious activities and transactions and their reporting to the FIUs;

(m) prepare and coordinate assessments and strategic analyses of ML/TF threats, risks and methods identified by FIUs.

Article 6

Powers of the Authority

The Authority shall also have the powers and obligations which financial supervisors have in the area of AML/CFT under the applicable Union law, unless otherwise provided for by this Regulation.

To the extent necessary to carry out the tasks conferred on it by this Regulation, the Authority may require financial supervisors, by way of instructions, to make use of their powers in the area of AML/CFT, under and in accordance with the conditions set out in national law, where this Regulation does not confer such powers on the Authority.

For the purposes of exercising the powers referred to in the first and second subparagraphs, the Authority may issue binding decisions addressed to individual selected obliged entities. The Authority shall have the power to apply administrative measures and impose pecuniary sanctions for non-compliance with the decisions taken in the exercise of the power laid down in Article 21 in accordance with Article 22.

With respect to supervisors and supervisory authorities, the Authority shall have the following powers:

(a) to require the submission of information or documents, including written or oral explanations, necessary for the performance of its functions, including statistical information and information concerning internal processes or arrangements of national supervisors and supervisory authorities, and to access that information in and extract it from the common structured questionnaires and other online and offline tools developed by the Authority;

(b) to issue guidelines and recommendations;

(c) to issue requests to act and instructions on measures to be taken in relation to non-selected obliged entities pursuant to Chapter II, Section 4;

(d) to carry out mediation upon the request of a financial supervisor or of a non-financial supervisor;

(e) upon the request of financial supervisors, to settle, with binding effect, disagreements between financial supervisors, including in the context of the AML/CFT supervisory colleges.

With respect to FIUs in Member States, the Authority shall have the following powers:

(a) to request non-operational data and analyses from FIUs, where they are necessary for the assessment of threats, vulnerabilities and risks facing the internal market in relation to ML/TF;

(b) to collect information and statistics in relation to the tasks and activities of FIUs;

(c) to obtain and process information and data required for initiating, conducting and coordinating joint analyses as specified in Article 40;

(d) to issue guidelines and recommendations.

For the purposes of carrying out the tasks set out in Article 5(1), the Authority shall have the following powers:

(a) to develop draft regulatory technical standards in accordance with Article 49;

(b) to develop draft implementing technical standards in accordance with Article 53;

(c) to issue guidelines and recommendations, as provided for in Article 54;

(d) to provide opinions to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the Commission, as provided for in Article 55.

SECTION 2

AML/CFT supervisory system

Article 7

Cooperation within the AML/CFT supervisory system

Article 8

AML/CFT supervisory methodology

When developing the supervisory methodology, the Authority shall distinguish between obliged entities, including on the basis of their activities and the type and nature of the ML/TF risks to which they are exposed. The supervisory methodology shall be risk-based and contain at least the following elements:

(a) benchmarks and a methodology for classification of obliged entities into risk categories on the basis of their residual risk profile, separately for each category of obliged entities;

(b) approaches to supervisory review of ML/TF risk self-assessments of obliged entities;

(c) approaches to supervisory review of obliged entities’ internal policies and procedures, including their customer due diligence policies and procedures, in line with a risk-based approach to the prevention of ML/TF;

(d) approaches to supervisory evaluation of risk factors inherent in, or related to, customers, business relationships, transactions and delivery channels of obliged entities, as well as geographical risk factors.

The tools developed by the Authority shall ensure the collection of objective and comparable AML/CFT-related data and information from obliged entities and enable an efficient and speedy exchange of information between supervisors and the Authority.

The Authority shall endeavour to develop those tools as soon as the supervisory methodology is applicable across the entire AML/CFT supervisory system.

Article 9

Thematic reviews

No later than 1 December each year, supervisory authorities shall provide information to the Authority on supervisory reviews which they intend to carry out, on a thematic basis, during the following year or supervisory term and which aim to assess ML/TF risks or a specific aspect of such risks to which multiple obliged entities are exposed at the same time. The following information shall be provided:

(a) the scope of each planned thematic review in terms of category and number of obliged entities included and the subject matter of the review;

(b) the timeframe of each planned thematic review;

(c) the planned types, nature and frequency of supervisory activities to be performed in relation to each thematic review, including any on-site inspections or other types of direct interaction with obliged entities, where applicable.

Article 10

Mutual assistance in the AML/CFT supervisory system

The Authority may, as appropriate, develop:

(a) new practical instruments and convergence tools to promote common supervisory approaches and best practices;

(b) practical tools and methods for mutual assistance following: (i) specific requests from supervisory authorities; (ii) referral of disagreements between supervisory authorities on the measures to be taken jointly by several supervisory authorities in relation to an obliged entity.

The Authority shall facilitate and encourage at least the following activities:

(a) sectoral and cross-sectoral training programmes, including with respect to technological innovation;

(b) exchanges of staff and the use of secondment schemes, twinning and short-term visits;