In a series of consultations, Europe’s new anti-money laundering agency is seeking feedback on its proposals to establish new common standards for due diligence and the enforcement sanctions that it will impose.
Last summer, the European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) officially began its operations, with direct supervisory activity scheduled to start in 2027. In the meantime, it’s developing harmonized AML standards for the financial and the non-financial sector.
On Monday, it launched three sets of consultations, including draft standards on how firms will be expected to verify the identities of customers and conduct ongoing monitoring of those clients; and proposed standards for identifying and overseeing business relationships.
“Customer due diligence rules are a cornerstone in preventing money laundering and terrorist financing,” it noted.
At the same time, it also issued a consultation on its approach to enforcing compliance and sanctioning breaches of the new rules — including its proposed methodology for assessing the severity of compliance violations, and imposing appropriate penalties.
“With these instruments, we are making progress on some of our most important mandates. We are setting clear and proportionate rules for the private sector, while ensuring supervisors across the EU can enforce them consistently,” said Bruna Szego, chair of the AMLA, in a release.
The consultations on due diligence standards are open until May 8, and the AMLA indicated that it will be holding public hearings in the future too.