Establishment of the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering. Why Does the European Union Need to Institutionalize Anti-Money Laundering?
Abstrakt
The Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2024 establishing the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA) is an important step in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. This article outlines why this initiative was deemed necessary and what the objectives and powers of the new Authority will be. The primary method used during the research was the formal-dogmatic method through an analysis of the provisions regulating AML. The new Authority’s goals and functions were verified using legal acts, reports and studies from European Union bodies. On the basis of these, conclusions are presented on the purposefulness of the AMLA’s establishment, its scope of tasks and how it is expected to function. Some of the proposed assumptions – especially regarding the effectiveness of the direct supervision the AMLA is to perform – were subject to critical analysis. The research results show that, to increase the effectiveness of overall AML policy in the European Union, the new Authority must cooperate successfully with both EU and national authorities – primarily the Financial Intelligence Units of Member States.
Słowa kluczowe:
anti-money laundering, European Union financial policy, authority, direct supervision, obliged institutionsBibliografia
Alfonso, Katherin, and Trevor Sutton. “The Meaning of the FinCEN Files.” Global Financial Integrity, June 23, 2022. Accessed June 30, 2024. https://gfintegrity.org/the-meaning-of-the-fincen-files/.
Bjerregaard, Elisabetta, and Tom Kirchmaier. “The Danske Bank Money Laundering Scandal: A Case Study.” Social Science Research Network Electronic Journal (2019): 12–20. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3446636. (Crossref)
Council of the European Union. “Council Conclusions on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism,” November 5, 2020. Accessed June 22, 2024. https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-12608-2020-INIT/en/pdf.
Diessner, Sebastian. “More Questions than Answers? The EU’s New Anti-Money Laundering Authority.” The London School of Economics and Political Science, September 22, 2022. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2022/09/22/more-questions-than-answers-the-eus-new-anti-money-laundering-authority/.
European Banking Authority. “Report on Competent Authorities’ Approaches to the AML/CFT Supervision on Banks,” 2020. Accessed June 24, 2024. https://www.eba.europa.eu/sites/default/files/document_library/News%20and%20Press/Press%20Room/Press%20Releases/2020/EBA%20acts%20to%20improve%20AML/CFT%20supervision%20in%20Europe/Report%20on%20CA%20approaches%20to%20AML%20CFT.pdf.
European Commission. “Consultation on the Action Plan for a Comprehensive Union Policy on Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing,” 2020. Accessed June 22, 2024. https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12176-Action-Plan-on-anti-money-laundering/public-consultation.
European Commission. “Questions and Answers: The New EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority,” April 24, 2024. Accessed June 24, 2024. https://finance.ec.europa.eu/document/download/61cf5a0d-0e5d-43e2-876a-8e68e45c7f1f_en?filename=240424-anti-money-laundering-faqs_en_0.pdf .
European Commission. “Selection of the Seat of the Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism Authority (AMLA),” February 22, 2024. Accessed June 24, 2024. https://commission.europa.eu/law/selection-seat-anti-money-launderingcountering-financing-terrorism-authority-amla_en.
European Court of Auditors. Special Report: EU Efforts to Fight Money Laundering in the Banking Sector Are Fragmented and Implementation Is Insufficient. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2021.
European Parliament. “Frankfurt Will Be the Home of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority,” February 22, 2024. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240219IPR17818/frankfurt-will-be-the-homeof-the-eu-anti-money-laundering-authority.
Europol. From Suspicion to Action. Converting Financial Intelligence into Greater Operational Impact. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2017.
Europol. “Money Laundering,” February 28, 2025. Accessed April 29, 2025. https://www.europol.europa.eu/crime-areas/economic-crime/money-laundering#:~:-text=The%20United%20Nations%20Office%20on,GDP%20is%20laundered%20each%20year.
Hearst, Elizabeth. “Deutsche Accused of Allowing $1.3TRN to Be Laundered Despite Red Flags Being Raised by Bank’s Own Internal Compliance Team – FinCEN Leaks.” AML Intelligence, September 20, 2020. Accessed June 22, 2024. https://www.amlintelligence.com/2020/09/deutsche-bank-suffers-worst-damage-overmassive-aml-discrepancies-in-fincen-leaks.
Koster, Harold. “Towards Better Implementation of the European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Framework.” Journal of Money Laundering Control 23, no. 2 (2020): 379–86. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-09-2019-0073. (Crossref)
Lambert-Porter, Sarah, and E. Kyle Zipf. “The EU is Overhauling Its AML/CTF Framework and May Be Looking to Leverage or Facilitate the Work of PPPs.” Ropes & Gray LLP, September 9, 2021. Accessed June 24, 2024. https://www.ropesgray.com/en/insights/alerts/2021/09/the-eu-is-overhauling-its-aml-ctf-frameworkand-may-be-looking-to-leverage.
Lannoo, Karel. “The EU Is Homing in on Dirty Money.” Centre for European Policy Studies, no. 2022–03 (2022): 1–8. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.ceps.eu/ceps-publications/the-eu-is-homing-in-on-dirty-money.
O’Donoghue, Paul. “NEWS: $750 Billion in Dirty Cash Is Laundered through Europe per Year – Report,” March 31, 2025. Accessed April 29, 2025. https://www.amlintelligence.com/2025/03/news-750b-in-dirty-cash-is-laundered-through-europeper-year/.
Pavlidis, Georgios. “The Birth of the New Anti-Money Laundering Authority: Harnessing the Power of EU-Wide Supervision.” Journal of Financial Crime 31, no. 2 (2024): 322–33. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-03-2023-0059. (Crossref)
Rae, Stephen. “EU’s New AML Authority (AMLA) May Also Be Tasked with Enforcing Russia Sanctions in Proposal Being Considered by Commission.” AML Intelligence, July 4, 2022. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.amlintelligence.com/2022/07/news-eus-new-aml-authority-amla-may-also-be-tasked-with-enforcing-russia-sanctions-in-proposal-being-considered-by-commission/.
Rae, Stephen. “Europe’s New AML Authority (AMLA) Will Need 500 Staff – Double Original Estimate – and Budget of at Least €400M.” AML Intelligence, February 1, 2023. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.amlintelligence.com/2023/02/exclusive-europes-new-aml-authority-amla-will-need-500-staff-double-original-estimate-and-budget-of-at-least-e400m-pa/.
Remeur, Cécile. “EU Legislation in Progress: Anti-Money-Laundering Authority (AMLA). Countering Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism.” European Parliament, 2024. Accessed June 25, 2024. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2022/733645/EPRS_BRI(2022)733645_EN.pdf.
Saravia, Francisco. “Banking in Europe: EBF Facts & Figures 2021 – 2020 Banking Statistics.” European Banking Federation, 2021. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://www.ebf.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Banking-in-Europe-EBF-Facts-and-Figures-2021.pdf?lang=en.
Schiavo, Gianni Lo. “The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the EU Anti-Money Laundering Framework Compared: Governance, Rules, Challenges and Opportunities.” Journal of Banking Regulation 23, no. 6 (2021): 91–105. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41261-021-00166-0. (Crossref)
Schlarb, Dominik D. “Rethinking Anti-Money Laundering Supervision: The Single Supervisory Mechanism – A Model for a European Anti-Money Laundering Supervisor?.” New Journal of European Criminal Law 13, no. 1 (2022): 69–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/20322844221085949. (Crossref)
Uniwersytet Wrocławski https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4136-2038
