These laws mandate that individuals with a legitimate interest, such as journalists, media professionals, civil society organizations, competent authorities, and supervisory bodies, will have immediate and unfettered access to beneficial ownership information stored in national registries and interconnected at the EU level. These registries will now include historical data spanning back at least five years, in addition to current information.
Furthermore, the legislation grants Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) expanded authority to analyze and identify instances of money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as to suspend suspicious transactions. Enhanced due diligence measures and customer identity checks have been introduced for obligated entities, including banks, asset and crypto asset managers, and real estate agents. Beginning in 2029, top-tier professional football clubs involved in high-value financial transactions will also be required to verify customer identities, monitor transactions, and report any suspicious activities to FIUs.
The new laws also introduce increased scrutiny measures for ultra-high-net-worth individuals (those with a total wealth of at least EUR 50,000,000, excluding their primary residence), impose an EU-wide cash payment limit of EUR 10,000 (with exceptions for non-professional transactions between private individuals), and establish mechanisms to enforce targeted financial sanctions and prevent their circumvention.
To oversee the implementation of these anti-money laundering rules, a new authority called the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA) will be established in Frankfurt. AMLA will be responsible for directly supervising high-risk financial entities, intervening in cases of supervisory failures, serving as a central coordinating body for supervisors, and mediating disputes among them. Additionally, AMLA will oversee the enforcement of targeted financial sanctions.
The legislative package comprises the sixth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) directive, the EU ‘single rulebook’ regulation, and the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) regulation. These measures still require formal adoption by the Council before being published in the EU’s Official Journal.
The adoption of these laws by the European Parliament reflects citizens’ demands as expressed in the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe, particularly Proposal 16(1) and 16(2) focusing on preventing tax evasion and enhancing cooperation on corporate taxation.
