For decades, anti-money laundering supervision in Europe has been fragmented across national authorities, with uneven results. High-profile failures at several European banks exposed how illicit funds could exploit those differences. The EU's response was a comprehensive legislative package adopted in 2024, including a single AML rulebook and a new supervisory body.
The Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), established by Regulation (EU) 2024/1620, is based in Frankfurt and began operations in 2025. Its first chair, Bruna Szego, took office that year, and the authority has spent its early period recruiting staff, building systems and drafting the technical standards that will underpin the new regime.
A single rulebook for the whole Union
Alongside AMLA, the package introduced the Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR), which will apply directly in all member states from July 2027. Moving key customer due diligence and beneficial ownership rules from a directive into a regulation removes much of the scope for divergent national interpretation.
The AMLR also introduces an EU-wide cap of €10,000 on cash payments for goods and services, extends obligations to additional sectors such as most crypto-asset service providers and certain high-value goods traders, and tightens beneficial ownership transparency.
Direct supervision from 2028
AMLA's most visible power will be the direct supervision of a limited number of high-risk financial institutions operating across several member states. Selection is expected to take place in 2027, with direct supervision beginning in 2028. Other obliged entities will remain under national supervisors, but AMLA will coordinate and assess the quality of that supervision.
The authority will also support non-financial supervisors — including those overseeing accountants, auditors and tax advisers — through peer reviews and guidance, and it will coordinate the EU's financial intelligence units.
Implications for professional firms
Auditors, accountants and tax advisers are obliged entities under EU AML rules. The harmonised framework will bring more detailed requirements on risk assessment, customer due diligence and record keeping, drafted as regulatory technical standards by AMLA.
Firms should expect greater consistency in supervisory expectations across borders — helpful for groups with multi-country operations, but also leaving less room for lighter-touch national approaches.
What to do now
Organisations within scope can use the run-up to 2027 to compare current policies against the AMLR, refresh enterprise-wide risk assessments, review beneficial ownership data quality and follow AMLA's consultations on technical standards as they are published.
Conclusion
AMLA marks a shift from coordinated national supervision to a genuinely European system. Its full impact will unfold between 2027 and 2028, but the direction is already clear: fewer gaps, more data and higher expectations for every obliged entity.
