In today's global financial landscape, characterised by rapid cross-border capital flows, the need for stronger safeguards against financial irregularities is becoming increasingly clear. At EU level, the AMLA has a key role to play in this context. What is the AMLA or Anti-Money Laundering Authority?
The AMLA is the European authority against money laundering and terrorist financing, which was set up after weaknesses in the EU's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing system were identified, creating opportunities for criminals to exploit the EU financial system.
The creation of the AMLA was formally approved on 20 July 2021. The AMLA is expected to become operational in 2024, reaching full operational capacity in 2026. The AMLA will be responsible for establishing a coherent framework for Member States' AML/CFT authorities and for harmonising the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing at EU level. It will also help to establish a common supervisory culture. However, the AMLA will not be responsible for monitoring and combating money laundering in EU Member States in general, as this remains the prerogative of national authorities.
The AMLA's main tasks are:
It is also known that the AMLA will also monitor virtual asset service providers covered by the FATF Recommendations.
The location of the AMLA main office has not yet been confirmed, but it is definitely worth noting that Latvia has submitted an application to become an AMLA host country. Given the ambitious reforms in the financial sector, which have helped Latvia to completely eliminate the risk of being placed on the so-called grey list and thus to mitigate the even steeper negative impact on the national economy as a whole, and even to reach the highest MONEYVAL (Council of Europe Committee of Experts on Money Laundering) rating, Latvia has quite high chances of becoming the future home for the AMLA. More information on Latvia's application here.
Atbilst team
