It will not be Paris, nor Dublin, nor one of the six other European capitals (Brussels, Madrid, Rome, Riga, Vilnius and Vienna) which had applied.
The European Parliament and member states chose Frankfurt, Germany, on Thursday evening to host the future European Union agency against money laundering and terrorist financing.
Before the creation of this authority, designated by its English acronym Amla (“Anti-Money Laundering Authority”) and validated by Member States and Parliament at the end of 2023, Brussels relied on national regulators to enforce its rules.
But member states did not always cooperate.
Fight against dirty money
The AMLA will supervise and coordinate national authorities to better detect and combat questionable cross-border financial activities.
“It will play a key role in the fight against illicit financial activities.
With more than 400 employees, it will begin operations in mid-2025
,” declared Belgium, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
Equipped with sanctioning powers, “
Amla will be a game changer in the fight against dirty money in the EU”.
It will oversee "
the riskiest financial entities
", including cryptoasset service providers, as well as the non-financial sector, including entities such as football clubs.
The agency “
will also play a crucial role in preventing fraudsters from circumventing targeted financial sanctions
”, such as those taken against Russia, specifies the European Parliament.
Suspicious financial activities account for around 1% of EU GDP, or 130 billion euros, according to the European police agency Europol.