The European Union’s (EU) new anti-money laundering authority (AMLA) will establish its headquarters in Frankfurt, the financial capital of Germany.
The regulator will begin work in mid-2025. The AMLA board will consist of representatives from regulators and financial investigation bodies from all EU member states, while the governing body will consist of the chair and five independent full-time members.
Why is this relevant to crypto?
The AMLA is a newly established supervisory authority with the main aim of strengthening the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing within the EU.
The authority will have the power to supervise high-risk and cross-border financial companies. This also includes crypto companies if they are considered high-risk.
In addition, the introduction of the AMLA may lead to new or stricter regulations that crypto companies must comply with. This could prompt companies to improve their compliance and monitoring systems to meet EU anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) standards.
EU tightens crypto and AI regulations
According to a report from CoinDesk, the EU is working to refine its regulatory framework for the booming crypto industry. The Financial Services Committee (FSC), made up of representatives from all 27 EU member states and the European Commission, has put “digital finance” high on the agenda at its upcoming meeting in April.
These goals include the further integration of the crypto and blockchain sector into European financial policy. Key laws such as the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and DAC8, which are being phased in and impose stricter requirements on sharing customer information with European tax authorities, are expected to be expanded.
At the same time, the EU is developing regulations on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). On February 13, the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Civil Liberties Committees adopted the provisional agreement on the European AI Act, the world’s first legislation focused on AI.