AMLA gets to work

October 2025

Taking power

This summer, the new EU Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA) officially became operational. On 1 July the AMLA Regulation that established Europe’s new central anti-financial crime agency took full effect. So after several months of intensive preparations and institutional build-up, AMLA gained formal legal powers and responsibilities as an anti-money laundering (AML) regulator and supervisor.

AMLA marked the start of its operational existence with a flurry of activity:

On 1 July, the Authority published its Work Programme for 2025. As well as summarizing progress so far in establishing the new agency, this sets out AMLA’s policy, operational and administrative priorities for the coming months (see below);
On 3 July AMLA confirmed it had signed Memoranda of Understanding with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the three European Supervisory Authorities: the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). These will provide a basis for supervisory cooperation and information exchange between the different agencies;
On 4 July, AMLA announced the appointment of Nicolas Vasse as its first permanent Executive Director. Vasse, a former consultant and head of operations at ESMA, will take up his post in September and will be responsible for AMLA’s internal administration. His appointment completes AMLA’s executive leadership team, alongside Chair Bruna Szego and the AMLA Executive Board.¹

So much done

AMLA’s 2025 Work Programme first highlighted its efforts so far to lay the institutional, operational and policy foundations for the authority to get up and running. Key milestones included the establishment of AMLA’s internal governance and the setting up of working groups and other structures to facilitate cooperation with other European and national authorities and to develop common supervisory approaches.

The authority has also started to build up the physical and digital infrastructure it will need to deliver on its mandate. AMLA has begun recruiting staff, focusing on key horizontal functions including human resources. It has signed the lease on its permanent headquarters in the Frankfurt MesseTurm, and has initiated work to design its central AML database and IT platforms to coordinate supervision and cooperation among national Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). Finally, AMLA has established its public presence, with Chair Szego articulating her key policy priorities in various public statements, including a Frankfurt interview with KPMG AMLA Office Co-Head Timo Purkott in May.

So much still to do

Looking ahead, the Work Programme sets out ambitious plans for AMLA in the rest of 2025.

Supervision
Policy/Regulation
FIU Coordination

Szego has identified harmonizing European AML supervisory standards as central to AMLA’s mission. AMLA’s initial focus will be on indirect supervision, using its oversight role to encourage the convergence and tightening of supervisory standards among national authorities. Specific activities will include coordinating AML supervisory colleges for cross-border firms, developing a consolidated plan for future thematic reviews, and organizing seminars to exchange information on supervisory best practices among national authorities.

One particular area of focus will be promoting high supervisory standards for the crypto-asset sector. The Work Programme highlights crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) as exposed to particularly high AML risks due to their technological characteristics and the cross-border and potentially anonymous nature of their business. AMLA will therefore take measures to promote strong AML controls at CASPs and to encourage harmonization of national supervisory practice.

On the regulatory front, AMLA will press on with developing the regulatory technical standards (RTS) and guidelines needed to complete the single AML rulebook. This includes taking over work begun by EBA, which in March published four draft RTSs for public consultation. Of these, the Work Programme identifies the RTSs on the risk assessment methodology for obliged entities and on the selection of entities for direct AMLA supervision as particularly relevant.

In addition, AMLA will prioritise the development of technical standards on the AMLA database, on supervisory cooperation and home-host cooperation among national authorities. AMLA plans to launch public consultations on these instruments later this year, with a view to finalizing them in the first half of 2026.

Alongside supervision and regulation, coordinating national FIUs is a key AMLA function. In the second half of 2025, AMLA will develop a Support and Coordination Framework for FIUs. It will also begin to welcome the first FIU Delegates to AMLA and begin preparation for pilot joint analysis and FIU peer review projects. To support this, the authority will conduct a comprehensive mapping of EU FIUs, covering their organizational set-up, legal powers and operational capabilities.

Underpinning all these plans, AMLA also committed to publishing two Single Programming Documents (SPDs) for 2026-2028 and 2027-2029. These will articulate AMLA’s strategic vision, operational priorities, performance indicators and resource plans on a rolling three-year basis (similar to the ECB’s practice for setting out its supervisory priorities). The first SPD is due to be completed by end of November.

Get ready

As AMLA is getting ready, so banks and other obliged entities should also get ready for the new EU AML regime. As well as the start of AMLA’s legal powers, July also marked two years until the new single AML rulebook takes effect. That may seem a long time, but given the extent and scale of the policy, governance and system changes that will be required, firms should act now to assess the impact of the new rules and plan to close the gaps with current practice.

In our discussions in the network, we have seen a wide divergence in terms of states of readiness. Some institutions have begun detailed analysis and initiated programmes to implement the necessary change. Others, are earlier in the planning process, meaning there is still work to do by the time the new requirements enter into force.

The KPMG AMLA Office will continue to provide insights and analysis as the new AML rulebook develops and AMLA grows to full operational capability. KPMG professionals stand ready to advise firms at all stages of their journey to become ‘AMLA ready’.