AMLA mission and goals
The Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA) is a decentralised EU agency that will coordinate national authorities to ensure the correct and consistent application of EU rules.
The aim of the EU Authority is to transform the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) supervision in the EU and enhance cooperation among financial intelligence units (FIUs).
Key responsibilities
AMLA’s key responsibilities will include:
- Directly supervising selected financial sector entities that operate on cross border basis and present high risk of money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as indirectly supervising other entities in the financial and non-financial sectors
- Supporting and coordinating Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) by facilitating joint cross-border cases analyses, enabling controlled information exchange, providing capabilities, advanced data analytics and managing the common FIU.net information system
- Complementing EU AML/CFT rules by developing regulatory and implementing technical standards and issuing guidelines
AMLA’s seat is in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
AMLA and the citizens
AMLA is an EU authority which does not reach out to or request citizens to engage or cooperate with on any investigation, project or process.
AMLA never asks for information related to or intervenes in the processing of financial transfers to citizens. AMLA will not issue fines, fees or sanctions on individual citizens.
If someone has contacted you pretending to be a member of AMLA -or operating on behalf of-and is offering you a refund, or help to recover money, this is an attempted scam. We recommend that you do not comply with the request and file a complaint with your national authorities.
All email addresses belonging to the European Commission and AMLA end with “@ec.europa.eu” and “@amla.europa.eu” respectively. Any other email addresses are not related to AMLA and do not speak for the authority. Likewise, only web addresses ending with “ec.europa.eu” and “amla.europa.eu” are part of the European Commission and AMLA’s registered domain names.
AMLA setup steps
An ambitious legislative package aimed at strengthening the EU’s Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) rules presented by the European Commission in July 2021. It was approved by the Parliament on 24 April 2024 and adopted by the Council on 30 May 2024.
The AMLA Regulation, AML Regulation and 6th AML Directive were published in the Official Journal on 19 June 2024.
The AMLA Regulation has been amended by virtue of Regulation (EU) 2025/2088; an unofficial consolidated version of the AMLA Regulation is available.
AMLA has a legal existence since 26 June 2024.
AMLA Task Force
The AMLA Task Force is leading the establishment of the new Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA) in the context of the AML package that the European Commission proposed in 2021, and the European Parliament and the Council of the EU approved in 2024.
The Task Force is in charge of initiating and coordinating the preparatory steps related to the setting up of the new Authority. It will also ensure that the first decisions and actions can effectively and rapidly be taken with the legal establishment from 26 June 2024 on, such as
- negotiating a headquarters agreement
- selecting suitable facilities for AMLA, including a building, equipment and services
- recruiting administrative and operational staff
- supporting the setup of the agency’s governance, including the pre-selection of AMLA’s Chair, Executive Board members and Executive Director
- managing the Agency’s 2024 budget and preparing future budgetary plans
- designing and implementing essential IT architecture to support AMLA’s operations