For the first time, supervisors across the EU will apply a harmonised, consistent approach to enforcing breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist-financing rules. AMLA's standards will advance supervisory convergence, so that the same breach in the same circumstances leads to the same enforcement outcome, wherever it happens.
The same breach, the same response
The new standards advance one of AMLA's core goals: harmonised, risk-based supervision across the EU. Until now, the same breach in the same situation could draw very different enforcement outcomes from one supervisor or country to the next — leaving room for regulatory arbitrage.
The new set of rules provides every supervisor with a common approach to assessing the gravity of breaches, leading to consistent enforcement outcomes across the EU while preserving proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness.
How supervisors approach enforcement
Supervisors in the EU will follow a common, step-by-step method:
Assess gravity
Supervisors weigh the level of gravity of a breach against a shared set of indicators, including how long it lasted, whether it was repeated, and what impact it had.
Classify into one of four levels
The breach is classified into one of four levels of gravity, which determines the range of available enforcement measures.
Determine the enforcement outcome
Common criteria guide supervisors to determine the appropriate enforcement outcome — from a warning to a financial penalty.
The same rules across sectors
The standards apply to all sectors covered by AML rules, financial and non-financial alike. Once adopted by the European Commission, they will apply directly and become legally binding in all EU Member States.
For obliged entities — estate agents, accountants, tax advisers and lawyers alike — this means that the outcome of any supervisory inspection will need to meet an EU-wide benchmark. Strong internal processes and a clear audit trail will matter more than ever.
Original press release published at
amla.europa.eu — AMLA introduces a common EU approach to enforcing AML rules