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)

The General Board in FIU composition, acting unanimously, may decide to suspend the access of an FIU, its counterpart in a third country, or a Union body, office or agency, to FIU.net where it has grounds to believe that such access would jeopardise the implementation of Chapter III of Directive (EU) 2024/1640 and the security and confidentiality of the information held by FIUs and exchanged through the FIU.net system, including where there are concerns in relation to an FIU’s lack of independence and autonomy.

The Authority shall set up a peer review process of the activities of FIUs pursuant to Chapter III of Directive (EU) 2024/1640 to strengthen the consistency and effectiveness of FIU activities and to facilitate the exchange of best practices between FIUs. The Authority shall develop methods to allow for an objective assessment of the FIUs reviewed and also develop rules of procedure for the conduct of peer reviews.

For the purposes of paragraph 1, the Authority shall set up a peer review team, which shall be composed of the staff of the Authority and representatives of the FIUs participating in the peer review.

The peer review of the activities of an FIU shall include an assessment of, but shall not be limited to, the following:

The Authority shall produce a report setting out the results of the peer review. That peer review report shall be jointly prepared by the staff of the Authority and the relevant staff of the FIUs involved in the peer review team, and shall be adopted by the Executive Board, having received the observations of the General Board in FIU composition as to the consistency of application of the methodology with other peer review reports. The report shall include good practices identified and, where relevant, follow-up measures that are deemed appropriate, proportionate and necessary as a result of the peer review. Those follow-up measures may be adopted in the form of guidelines and recommendations pursuant to Article 54 and an opinion pursuant to Article 55. FIUs shall make every effort to comply with any guidelines and recommendations issued in accordance with Article 54.

The Authority shall publish the findings of the peer review on its website and submit an opinion to the Commission where, having regard to the outcome of the peer review or to any other information acquired by the Authority in carrying out its tasks, it considers that further harmonisation of Union rules applicable to FIUs would be necessary from the Union’s perspective.

The Authority shall provide a follow-up report two years after the publication of the peer review report. The follow-up report shall be jointly prepared by the staff of the Authority and the relevant staff of the FIUs involved in the peer review team, and shall be adopted by the Executive Board, having received the observations of the General Board in FIU composition as to the consistency of application of the methodology with other peer review reports. The follow-up report shall include an assessment of the adequacy and effectiveness of the actions undertaken by the FIUs that were subject to the peer review in response to the follow-up measures of the peer review report. The Authority shall publish the findings of the follow-up report on its website.

For the purposes of this Article, the Executive Board shall adopt a peer review work plan every two years, which shall reflect the lessons learnt from the past peer review processes and discussions held in the General Board in FIU composition. The peer review work plan shall constitute a separate part of the annual and multiannual working programme and shall be included in the single programming document. Every FIU shall participate in the peer reviews which concern it.

Where the European Parliament and the Council delegate power to the Commission to adopt regulatory technical standards by means of delegated acts pursuant to Article 290 TFEU in order to ensure consistent harmonisation in the areas specifically set out in the legislative acts referred to in Article 1(2) of this Regulation, the Authority may develop draft regulatory technical standards. The Authority shall submit its draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission for adoption. At the same time, the Authority shall forward those draft regulatory technical standards for information to the European Parliament and to the Council.

Where the Authority has not submitted a draft regulatory technical standard within the time limit set out in the legislative acts referred to in Article 1(2), the Commission may request such a draft within a new time limit. If the Authority cannot comply with that new time limit, it shall inform the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission thereof in due time.

Only where the Authority does not submit a draft regulatory technical standard to the Commission within the time limits in accordance with paragraph 2, may the Commission adopt a regulatory technical standard by means of a delegated act without a draft from the Authority.

The regulatory technical standards shall be adopted by means of regulations or decisions. The words ‘regulatory technical standard’ shall appear in the title of such regulations or decisions. Those standards shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall enter into force on the date stated therein.

The power to adopt regulatory technical standards referred to in Article 49 shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of four years from 26 June 2024. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegated power not later than six months before the end of the four-year period. The delegation of power shall be automatically extended for periods of an identical duration.

As soon as it adopts a regulatory technical standard, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

The power to adopt regulatory technical standards is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 49, 51 and 52.

The European Parliament or the Council may object to a regulatory technical standard within a period of three months from the date of notification of the regulatory technical standard adopted by the Commission. At the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council that period shall be extended by three months.

If, on the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1, neither the European Parliament nor the Council has objected to the regulatory technical standard, it shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall enter into force on the date stated therein.

If either the European Parliament or the Council objects to a regulatory technical standard within the period referred to in paragraph 1, it shall not enter into force. In accordance with Article 296 TFEU, the institution which objects shall state the reasons for objecting to the regulatory technical standard.

In the event that the Commission does not endorse a draft regulatory technical standard or amends it as provided for in Article 49, the Commission shall inform the Authority, the European Parliament and the Council, stating its reasons.

Where appropriate, the European Parliament or the Council may invite the responsible Commissioner, together with the Chair of the Authority, within one month of the notice referred to in paragraph 1, for an ad hoc meeting of the competent committee of the European Parliament or the Council to present and explain their differences.

Where the European Parliament and the Council confer implementing powers on the Commission to adopt implementing technical standards by means of implementing acts pursuant to Article 291 TFEU, in the areas specifically set out in the legislative acts referred to in Article 1(2) of this Regulation, the Authority may develop draft implementing technical standards. Implementing technical standards shall be technical, shall not imply strategic decisions or policy choices and their content shall be to determine the conditions of application of those acts. The Authority shall submit its draft implementing technical standards to the Commission for adoption. At the same time, the Authority shall forward those technical standards for information to the European Parliament and to the Council.

Where the Authority has not submitted a draft implementing technical standard within the time limit set out in the legislative acts referred to in Article 1(2), the Commission may request such a draft within a new time limit. If the Authority cannot comply with that new time limit, it shall inform the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission thereof in due time.

Only where the Authority does not submit a draft implementing technical standard to the Commission within the time limits in accordance with paragraph 2, may the Commission adopt an implementing technical standard by means of an implementing act without a draft from the Authority.

The implementing technical standards shall be adopted by means of regulations or decisions. The words ‘implementing technical standard’ shall appear in the title of such regulations or decisions. Those standards shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall enter into force on the date stated therein.

The Authority shall, with a view to establishing consistent, efficient and effective supervisory and FIU-related practices, and to ensuring the common, uniform and consistent application of Union law, issue guidelines and recommendations addressed to supervisory authorities, supervisors, FIUs, or obliged entities.

The Authority shall, where appropriate, conduct open public consultations regarding those guidelines and recommendations and analyse the related potential costs and benefits. Those consultations and analyses shall be proportionate to the scope, nature and impact of the guidelines or recommendations. Where the Authority does not conduct open public consultations, the Authority shall provide its reasons and make them public.

Supervisory authorities, supervisors, FIUs and obliged entities shall make every effort to comply with those guidelines and recommendations.

In the report referred to in Article 64(4), point (c), the Authority shall list the guidelines and recommendations that it has issued.

The guidelines and recommendations issued by the Authority shall replace the guidelines and recommendations previously issued by the EBA or by supervisors and FIUs on the same subject. Provided that they are still relevant, the guidelines and recommendations issued by the EBA, or by supervisors and FIUs pursuant to Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0014]) and Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 shall remain applicable until such time as the new guidelines and recommendations issued by the Authority on the same subject start to apply. The Authority shall provide for a suitable transition period for the application of the new guidelines and recommendations.

The Authority may, upon a request from the European Parliament, from the Council or from the Commission, or on its own initiative, provide opinions to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on all issues related to its area of competence.

The request referred to in paragraph 1 may include a consultation with other relevant Union bodies where their competence is concerned, a public consultation or a technical analysis.

The Authority may, upon a request from the European Parliament, from the Council or from the Commission, provide technical advice to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission in the areas covered by the legislative acts referred to in Article 1(2).

The General Board shall have either the supervisory composition laid down in paragraph 2 or the FIU composition laid down in paragraph 3.

The General Board in supervisory composition shall be composed of:

The General Board in FIU composition shall be composed of:

The General Board may decide to admit observers. In particular, the General Board in FIU composition may admit the representatives of OLAF, Europol, Eurojust and the EPPO as observers to meetings, where matters within the scope of their respective mandates are discussed. The General Board in supervisory composition shall admit a representative nominated by the Supervisory Board of the ECB and a representative of each of the ESAs as observers, where matters within the scope of their respective mandates are discussed.

The Executive Board members may participate in the meetings of the General Board, whether in supervisory composition or FIU composition, without the right to vote, where the items covered by their areas of responsibility as determined by the Chair of the Authority and referred to in Article 66(2) are discussed.

The General Board, on its own initiative or at the request of the Chair of the Authority, may establish internal committees for specific tasks attributed to it. The General Board may provide for the delegation of certain clearly defined tasks and decisions to internal committees, to the Executive Board or to the Chair of the Authority. The General Board may revoke such delegation at any time.

Internal committees shall report to the General Board, for decision, all conclusions reached by them.

The Executive Board members may participate in the meetings of internal committees in accordance with Article 57(5).

The General Board in FIU composition shall establish a standing committee composed of nine of its members or representatives with adequate expertise from their respective national FIU, to support it in performing its tasks pursuant to Article 60(3), including by submitting proposals and preparing draft decisions.

When carrying out the tasks conferred upon them by this Regulation, the Chair of the Authority and the members of the General Board in supervisory composition and in FIU composition shall act independently and in the general interest of the Union as a whole and shall neither seek nor take instructions from Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, nor from any government or any other public or private body.

Member States, Union institutions, agencies, offices and bodies, and other public or private bodies shall not seek to influence the members of the General Board in the performance of their tasks.

In its rules of procedure, the General Board shall lay down practical arrangements for the prevention and management of conflicts of interest.

The General Board in supervisory composition shall take the decisions relating to the tasks referred to in Articles 7 to 10 as well as any other decision which, pursuant to this Regulation, is to be taken by the General Board in supervisory composition.

The General Board in supervisory composition may provide its opinion on any draft decision prepared by the Executive Board in relation to selected obliged entities, in accordance with Chapter II, Section 3, and Article 64(2).

The General Board in FIU composition shall perform the tasks and adopt the decisions referred to in Article 5(5) and Chapter II, Section 6.

The General Board shall adopt the opinions, recommendations, guidelines and decisions of the Authority referred to in Chapter II, Section 7, in the appropriate composition, having regard to the subject matter of the instrument. Where a given instrument concerns both supervision-related matters and FIU-related matters, the General Board in supervisory composition and the General Board in FIU composition shall each adopt separately those opinions, recommendations, guidelines and decisions. The opinions, recommendations, and guidelines shall be adopted based on a proposal of the relevant internal committee.

The General Board shall vote on the draft regulatory technical standards referred to in Article 49 and the draft implementing technical standards referred to in Article 53 and submit them to the Commission for adoption, in the appropriate composition, having regard to the subject matter of the standards.

The General Board in either composition shall be consulted on the draft decisions to be taken by the Executive Board pursuant to Article 64(4), points (a), (c), (e) and (m). Where the subsequent decision taken by the Executive Board deviates from the opinion of the General Board, the Executive Board shall provide the reasons thereof in writing.

The General Board shall adopt its rules of procedure and make them public.

Without prejudice to Article 63(3) and (4) and Article 68(1) and (2), the General Board shall exercise the powers conferred by the Staff Regulations on the appointing authority and by the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants on the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment (‘the appointing authority powers’) with regard to the Chair of the Authority and the five full-time members of the Executive Board, throughout their mandate.

Decisions of the General Board shall be taken by a simple majority of its members. Each voting member as determined by Article 57(2) and (3) shall have one vote. In the event of a tied vote, the Chair of the Authority shall have a casting vote.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1 of this Article, the General Board shall, with regard to the acts referred to in Articles 49, 53, 54 and 55 of this Regulation, take decisions on the basis of a qualified majority of its members, as provided for in Article 16(4) TEU.

The members without the right to vote and the observers shall not attend any discussions held within the General Board in supervisory composition relating to individual obliged entities, unless otherwise provided for in the legislative acts referred to in Article 1(2) or otherwise decided upon by the members with the right to vote.

Paragraph 3 shall not apply to the Executive Board members and the ECB representative nominated by the Supervisory Board of the ECB.

The Chair of the Authority shall have the prerogative to call a vote at any time. Without prejudice to that prerogative and to the effectiveness of the Authority’s decision-making procedures, the General Board shall strive for consensus when taking its decisions.

The Chair of the Authority shall convene the meetings of the General Board.

The General Board shall hold at least two ordinary meetings per year. In addition, it shall meet on the initiative of its Chair, or at the request of at least one third of its members.

The General Board may invite any person whose opinion may be of interest to attend its meetings as an observer.

The members of the General Board and their alternates may, subject to its rules of procedure, be assisted at the meetings by advisers or experts.

The General Board shall be assisted by a secretariat provided by the Authority.

The Chair of the Authority and the five full-time members of the Executive Board shall not attend meetings of the General Board where matters concerning the performance of their mandate are discussed or decided upon.

The Executive Board shall be composed of:

The Executive Director shall participate in meetings of the Executive Board without the right to vote.

Where the decisions referred to in Article 64(2) in relation to a selected obliged entity are deliberated upon, the member of the General Board in supervisory composition from the Member State where the concerned selected obliged entity is established may participate in the deliberations during the relevant meetings of the Executive Board.

The Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall be selected on the basis of merit, skills, knowledge, integrity, recognised standing and experience in the area of AML/CFT, and other relevant qualifications, following an open selection procedure which shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The term of office of the Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall be four years. In the course of the 12 months preceding the end of their four-year term of office, the General Board in both compositions or a smaller committee selected among General Board members, including a Commission representative, shall carry out an assessment of those Executive Board members. The assessment shall take into account an evaluation of each Executive Board member’s performance and the Authority’s future tasks and challenges. Based on the assessment, the General Board in both compositions may propose to the European Parliament to extend their term of office. Such extension may be granted only once. Following the European Parliament’s approval of the General Board’s proposal, the Council shall adopt an implementing decision to extend the term of office of the Executive Board member or members concerned. The Council shall act by qualified majority.

The Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall act independently and objectively in the interest of the Union as a whole and shall neither seek nor take instructions from Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, or from any government or any other public or private body. The Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, the governments of Member States and all other public or private bodies shall respect that independence.

If an Executive Board member referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of that member’s duties or has been guilty of serious misconduct, the Council may, acting on its own initiative or following a proposal by the European Parliament or the General Board in either composition, adopt an implementing decision to remove that member of the Executive Board from office. The Council shall act by qualified majority.

During a period of 18 months after ceasing to hold office, the former Executive Board members, including the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Authority, shall be prohibited from engaging in a gainful occupational activity with:

The Executive Board shall be responsible for the overall planning and execution of the tasks conferred on the Authority pursuant to Article 5. The Executive Board shall adopt all decisions of the Authority with the exception of the decisions that are to be taken by the General Board in accordance with Article 60.

The Executive Board shall adopt the decisions addressed to selected obliged entities for the purposes of the exercise of the powers referred to in Article 6(1), taking into account the proposal of the selected obliged entity’s joint supervisory team referred to in Article 16, the proposal of the independent investigatory team referred to in Article 27, and the opinion provided by the General Board on that proposed decision pursuant to Article 60(2). Where the Executive Board decides to deviate from such an opinion, it shall provide detailed reasons thereof in writing.

The Executive Board shall adopt the decisions addressed to individual public authorities pursuant to Articles 14, 30, and 32 to 36.

In addition, the Executive Board shall have the following tasks:

The Executive Board shall select a Vice-Chair of the Authority from among its voting members. The Vice-Chair shall automatically replace the Chair of the Authority if the Chair is unable to attend to his or her duties.

With respect to the powers referred to in paragraph 4, point (h), of this Article, the Executive Board shall adopt, in accordance with Article 110(2) of the Staff Regulations, a decision based on Article 2(1) of the Staff Regulations and Article 6 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, delegating relevant appointing authority powers to the Executive Director. The Executive Director shall be authorised to sub-delegate those powers.

In exceptional circumstances, the Executive Board may, by way of a decision, temporarily suspend the delegation of the appointing authority powers to the Executive Director and any sub-delegation by the Executive Director and exercise them itself or delegate them to one of its members or to a staff member other than the Executive Director.

By 30 November of each year, the Executive Board shall adopt a single programming document containing a multiannual work programme and an annual work programme, based on a draft put forward by the Executive Director, taking into account the opinion of the Commission and — regarding the multiannual work programme — after consulting the European Parliament. If the Executive Board decides not to take into account any elements of the opinion of the Commission, it shall provide a thorough justification for that decision. The obligation to provide a thorough justification shall also apply to any elements raised by the European Parliament when it is consulted. The Executive Board shall forward the single programming document to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

The annual work programme shall comprise detailed objectives and expected results, including performance indicators. It shall also contain a description of the actions to be financed and an indication of the financial and human resources allocated to each action, in accordance with the principles of activity-based budgeting and management. The annual work programme shall be coherent with the multiannual work programme. It shall clearly indicate which tasks have been added, changed or deleted in comparison with the previous financial year.

The Executive Board shall amend the adopted annual work programme when a new task is given to the Authority.

The multiannual work programme shall set out overall strategic programming including objectives, expected results and performance indicators. It shall also set out resource programming including multiannual budget and staff.

The Executive Board shall take decisions by a simple majority of its members. Each member of the Executive Board shall have one vote. The Chair of the Authority, or the Vice-Chair when replacing the Chair, shall have a casting vote in the event of a tied vote.

A representative of the Commission shall have a right to vote whenever matters pertaining to Article 64(4), points (a) to (l), are discussed and decided upon.

The Executive Board’s rules of procedure shall establish more detailed voting arrangements, in particular the circumstances in which a member can act on behalf of another member.

The Executive Board shall, upon a proposal of the Executive Director, designate a Fundamental Rights Officer. The Fundamental Rights Officer may be a member of the existing staff of the Authority.

The Fundamental Rights Officer shall perform the following tasks:

The Executive Board shall ensure that the Fundamental Rights Officer does not seek or take any instructions regarding the exercise of the Officer’s tasks.

The Fundamental Rights Officer shall report directly to the Executive Director and prepare regular reports on the performance of the tasks referred to in paragraph 2. Those reports shall be made available to the Executive Board.

The Chair of the Authority shall be selected on the basis of merit, skills, knowledge, integrity, recognised standing and experience in the area of AML/CFT and other relevant qualifications, following an open selection procedure which shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The European Parliament, the Council and the General Board shall be kept duly informed at every stage of that procedure in a timely manner.

The Chair of the Authority shall act independently and objectively in the interest of the Union as a whole and shall neither seek nor take instructions from the Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies nor from any government or from any other public or private body. The Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, the governments of the Member States and all other public or private bodies shall respect that independence.

The term of office of the Chair of the Authority shall be four years. In the course of the 12 months preceding the end of the Chair’s four-year term of office, the General Board in both compositions or a smaller committee selected among General Board members including a Commission representative shall carry out an assessment of the Chair. The assessment shall take into account an evaluation of the Chair’s performance and the Authority’s future tasks and challenges. Based on the assessment, the Commission may propose to the European Parliament to extend the Chair’s term of office. Such an extension may be granted only once. Following the European Parliament's approval of the Commission’s proposal, the Council shall adopt an implementing decision to extend the term of office of the Chair of the Authority. The Council shall act by qualified majority.

If the Chair of the Authority no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of his or her duties or has been guilty of serious misconduct, the Council may, acting on its own initiative, or following a proposal by the European Parliament or the General Board in either composition, adopt an implementing decision to remove the Chair of the Authority from office. The Council shall act by qualified majority.

If the Chair of the Authority resigns or is unable to attend to his or her duties for any other reason, the functions of the Chair shall be performed by the Vice-Chair.

The Chair of the Authority shall represent the Authority and shall be responsible for preparing the work of the General Board and the Executive Board, including setting the agenda, convening and chairing all the meetings and tabling items for decision.

The Chair of the Authority shall assign to the members of the Executive Board referred to in Article 63(1), point (b), specific areas of responsibility, within the scope of tasks of the Authority, for the duration of their mandate.

The Executive Director shall be engaged as a temporary agent of the Authority under Article 2, point (a), of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants.

The Executive Director shall perform his or her duties in the interest of the Union, and independently of any specific interests.

The Executive Director shall manage the Authority. The Executive Director shall be accountable to the Executive Board. Without prejudice to the powers of the Commission and of the Executive Board, the Executive Director shall be independent in the performance of his or her duties and shall neither seek nor take instructions from any Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, nor from any government or from any other public and private body.

The Executive Director shall be selected on the grounds of merit and documented high-level administrative, budgetary and management skills, following an open selection procedure which shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and, as appropriate, other press or internet sites. The Commission shall draw up a shortlist of at least two qualified candidates for the position of Executive Director. The Executive Board shall appoint the Executive Director.

The term of office of the Executive Director shall be five years. In the course of the nine months preceding the end of the Executive Director’s term of office, the Executive Board shall undertake an assessment that takes into account an evaluation of the Executive Director’s performance and the Authority’s future tasks and challenges. The Executive Board, taking into account the evaluation, may extend the term of office of the Executive Director once.

An Executive Director whose term of office has been extended shall not participate in another selection procedure for the same post at the end of the extended term of office.

The Executive Director shall be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Authority and shall aim to ensure gender and, to the extent possible, geographical balance within the Authority. In particular, the Executive Director shall be responsible for:

The Executive Director shall take other necessary measures, notably the adoption of internal administrative instructions and the publication of notices, to ensure the functioning of the Authority, in accordance with this Regulation.

The Executive Director shall decide whether it is necessary to locate one or more staff members in one or more other Member States for the purpose of carrying out the Authority’s tasks in an efficient and effective manner. Before deciding to establish a local office, the Executive Director shall obtain the prior consent of the Commission, the Executive Board and any Member State concerned. The decision shall specify the scope of the activities to be carried out at the local office in a manner that avoids unnecessary costs and duplication of administrative functions of the Authority. An agreement with the Member State or Member States concerned shall be concluded accordingly.

The Authority shall establish an Administrative Board of Review for the purposes of carrying out an internal administrative review of the decisions taken by the Authority in the exercise of the powers listed in Articles 21, 22, 23 and 77. The scope of the internal administrative review shall pertain to the procedural and substantive conformity of such decisions with this Regulation.

The Administrative Board of Review shall be composed of five individuals of high repute, having a proven record of relevant knowledge and professional experience, including supervisory experience in the area of AML/CFT, excluding current staff of the Authority, as well as current staff of AML/CFT supervisory authorities and FIUs or other national or Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies who are involved in the carrying out of the tasks conferred on the Authority by this Regulation. The Administrative Board of Review shall have sufficient resources and expertise to assess the exercise of the powers of the Authority under this Regulation.

The Administrative Board of Review shall decide on the basis of a majority of at least three of its five members.

The members of the Administrative Board of Review and two alternates shall be appointed by the General Board in supervisory composition for a term of five years, which may be extended once, following a public call for expressions of interest published in the Official Journal of the European Union. They shall not be bound by any instructions.

The members of the Administrative Board of Review shall act independently and in the public interest and shall not perform any other duties within the Authority. For that purpose, they shall make a public declaration of commitments and of interests indicating any direct or indirect interest which might be considered prejudicial to their independence or the absence of any such interest.

A request for review may be brought before the Administrative Board of Review against decisions taken by the Authority pursuant to Article 6(1) and Articles 21, 22, 23 and 77 by any natural or legal person to whom the decision is addressed, or to whom it is of direct and individual concern.

Any request for review shall be made in writing, including a statement of grounds, and shall be lodged with the Authority within one month of the date of notification of the decision to the person requesting the review, or, in the absence thereof, of the day on which it came to the knowledge of the person requesting the review.

After ruling on the admissibility of the request for review, the Administrative Board of Review shall express an opinion within a period appropriate to the urgency of the matter and in any event no later than two months from the receipt of the request, and remit the case for preparation of a new decision to the Executive Board. The Executive Board shall take into account the opinion of the Administrative Board of Review and shall promptly adopt a new decision. The new decision shall abrogate the initial decision and replace it with either a decision of identical content or an amended decision.

A request for review pursuant to paragraph 2 may include a request to suspend the application of the decision subject to review proceedings. The Administrative Board of Review may, if it considers that the circumstances so require and taking into account the view of the Executive Board, order that application of the decision in question be suspended until the Executive Board adopts a new decision pursuant to paragraph 3. If the Administrative Board of Review does not decide on the request for suspension within 14 days, that request shall be deemed to be rejected.

The opinion expressed by the Administrative Board of Review, and the new decision adopted by the Executive Board pursuant to this Article, shall be reasoned and notified to the parties.

The Authority shall adopt a decision establishing the Administrative Board of Review’s rules of procedure.

The members of the Administrative Board of Review shall not take part in any review proceedings if they have any personal interest in the proceedings, if they have previously been involved as representatives of one of the parties to the proceedings, or if they participated in the adoption of the decision under review.

If, for one of the reasons listed in paragraph 1 or for any other reason, a member of the Administrative Board of Review considers that he or she is not to take part in a review proceeding, he or she shall inform the Administrative Board of Review accordingly.

Any party to the review proceedings may object to any member of the Administrative Board of Review on any of the grounds listed in paragraph 1, or if the member is suspected of partiality. Any such objection shall not be admissible if the party to the review proceedings, while being aware of a ground for objecting, has taken a procedural step. No objection shall be permitted to be made based on the nationality of members.

The Administrative Board of Review shall decide on the action to be taken in the cases referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 without the participation of the member concerned. For the purposes of taking that decision, the member concerned shall be replaced on the Administrative Board of Review by his or her alternate.

Estimates of all revenue and expenditure for the Authority shall be prepared each financial year, corresponding to the calendar year, and shall be shown in the Authority’s budget.

The Authority’s budget shall be balanced in terms of revenue and expenditure.

Without prejudice to other resources, the Authority’s revenue shall consist of a combination of the following:

The expenditure of the Authority shall include staff remuneration, administrative and infrastructure expenses and operating costs.

The Authority shall levy an annual supervisory fee on all selected obliged entities referred to in Article 13 and on the non-selected obliged entities that meet the criteria set out in Article 12(1). The fees shall cover expenditure incurred by the Authority in relation to the tasks related to supervision and referred to in Chapter II, Sections 3 and 4. Those fees shall not exceed the expenditure relating to those tasks. Where those criteria are not fully respected in any given year, the necessary adjustments shall be made when calculating the fees for the two following years.

The amount of the fee levied on each obliged entity referred to in paragraph 1 shall be calculated in accordance with the arrangements established in the delegated act referred to in paragraph 6.

The fees shall be calculated at the highest level of consolidation in the Union in accordance with applicable accounting standards.

The basis for calculating the annual supervisory fee for a given calendar year shall be the expenditure relating to the direct and indirect supervision of the selected and non-selected obliged entities subject to fees in that year. The Authority may require advance payments in respect of the annual supervisory fee, which shall be based on a reasonable estimate. The Authority shall communicate with the relevant financial supervisor before deciding on the final fee level so as to ensure that supervision remains cost-effective and reasonable for all obliged entities in the financial sector. The Authority shall communicate to the obliged entities concerned the basis for the calculation of the annual supervisory fee. Member States shall ensure that the obligation to pay the fees specified in this Article is enforceable under national law, and that due fees are fully paid.

This Article is without prejudice to the right of financial supervisors to levy fees in accordance with national law, to the extent supervisory tasks have not been conferred on the Authority, or in respect of costs of cooperating with and assisting the Authority and acting on its instructions, in accordance with applicable Union law.

The Commission is empowered to adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 100 to supplement this Regulation by specifying the methodology for calculating the amount of the fee levied on each selected and non-selected obliged entity subject to fees in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, and the procedure for collecting those fees. When developing the methodology for determining the individual amount of fees, the Commission shall take into account the following:

Each year, the Executive Director shall draw up a draft statement of estimates of the Authority’s revenue and expenditure for the following financial year, including the establishment plan, and send it to the Executive Board.

The Executive Board shall, on the basis of that draft, adopt a provisional draft estimate of the Authority’s revenue and expenditure for the following financial year.

The final draft estimate of the Authority’s revenue and expenditure shall be sent to the Commission by 31 January of each year.

The Commission shall send the statement of estimates to the budgetary authority together with the draft general budget of the Union.

On the basis of the statement of estimates, the Commission shall enter in the draft general budget of the Union the estimates it considers necessary for the establishment plan and the amount of the subsidy to be charged to the general budget, which it shall place before the budgetary authority in accordance with Articles 313 and 314 TFEU.

The budgetary authority shall authorise the appropriations for the contribution to the Authority.

The budgetary authority shall adopt the Authority’s establishment plan.

The Authority’s budget shall be adopted by the Executive Board. It shall become final following the final adoption of the general budget of the Union. Where necessary, it shall be adjusted accordingly.

The Executive Director shall implement the Authority’s budget, respecting the principles of economy, efficiency, effectiveness and sound financial management.

Each year, the Executive Director shall send to the budgetary authority all information relevant to the findings of evaluation procedures.