The European Commission has announced plans to create a new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) following a flurry of recent financial crime scandals.
According to PYMNTS, if the legislation is passed, the AMLA will become operational in 2024. The authority would be handed the ability to supervise some cross-border financial companies as well as impose fines on those that breach money laundering rules in 2026.
The AMLA – which would need agreement from the European Parliament and member states before coming into law – is expected to oversee the riskiest financial sector businesses that operate within the EU.
If introduced, the AMLA will form an EU-wide AML/counter-terrorism financing financing rule book alongside new regulations that govern crypto assets.
The Financial Times stated that ‘the legislative package represents the EU’s boldest attempt to tackle illicit finance in the wake of scandals across the bloc’.
PYMNTS noted that while suspicious transactions estimated in the range of hundreds of billions of euros occur each year within the EU, the EC’s response is commonly held back by a lack of enforcement by member states and a reluctance to implement AML directives that already exist. In addition, Europol recently estimated that the value of suspicious transactions came to 1.3% of EU GDP.
A recent study by LexisNexis Risk Solutions found 78% of compliance professionals in the UK see increased AML legislation on the horizon due to Brexit.
Copyright © 2021 RegTech Analyst
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
