The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament welcome today’s selection of the seat of the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority, known as AMLA. This is the last building block of the new system that will significantly change the rules of the game and help prevent scandals that we have witnessed excessively in the past years. The new agency will play a key role in this new system and should start its work as soon as possible, urge S&Ds.

Pedro Marques, S&D negotiator on AMLA in the committee on economic and monetary affairs (ECON), said:

“Some weeks ago we applauded a ground-breaking deal on a new EU anti-money laundering legislation as good news for citizens and businesses, but bad news for oligarchs and terrorists. Today, we chose the home for the new agency that will play a central role in the new system through its broad and strong supervisory and co-ordinating powers.

“With selecting Frankfurt as AMLA’s host, everything is now set to start organising all practical aspects of its work. The agency is expected to kick off this year. Many scandals over recent years, such as those involving the Danske Bank and Credit Suisse, and the Cyprus Confidential files, show that Europe urgently needs this agency. The S&Ds therefore hope that it will start its work as soon as possible.” 

Paul Tang, S&D negotiator on AMLA in the committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs (LIBE), added: 

“Today’s decision is historic as, for the first time, the seat of an EU agency was selected in a democratic way, with the European Parliament and EU member states holding joint public hearings and voting together. The European Parliament’s scrutiny has guaranteed a credible outcome. 

“This agency will make sure that white collar criminals will no longer be able to launder their money through acquirement of expensive cars, yachts and private planes. It will ensure that it will be much harder for the richest and most powerful people to invest in the EU without proper checks and to circumvent sanctions. It is therefore key that the seat was selected in a transparent manner, in which we based ourselves on common criteria, such as the anti-money laundering track-record."

Note to editors:

Key competences of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA):

- Direct supervision of entities, including crypto-asset service providers;

- Strong powers to step in in case of supervisory failures and take over supervisory tasks, or initiate breach of union law procedures;

- Strong role in supporting financial intelligence units and co-ordinating their work, notably by supporting joint analysis;

- Power to settle disagreements with binding effect between financial supervisors and act as a mediator between non-financial supervisors;

- Oversight of the non-financial sector, including powers to act in cases of failures by national supervisors.