Money & markets
Regulation (EU) 2024/1624
AML Regulation
Anti-Money Laundering Regulation
Customer due diligence, beneficial ownership and cash limits become a single Union rulebook for banks, crypto, lawyers in scope, and many traders — watched by a new Authority in Frankfurt.
Does this hit me?
More questions when you open an account or buy with large cash. Beneficial-ownership registers are not a gossip site — access is gated after Court rulings on privacy.
Check in the wizardPick a country in the header to see who enforces this at home. Union text is not the last word for directives.
Next switch-on: in 10 months · 10 Jul 2027 — AML Regulation applies
How it rolls in
Jun 2024
AML package (Regulation, Directive, AMLA Regulation) adopted.
2025–2026
AMLA establishment.
10 Jul 2027
AMLR applies.
Why it exists
Six directives still left 27 flavours of KYC. Cross-border laundering used the gaps. A regulation plus AMLA is the Union’s attempt to close them.
What actually changes
- Directly applicable CDD, simplified/enhanced due diligence, and beneficial-ownership duties.
- Union-wide cash payment limit (with some national room) and tighter rules on high-risk third countries.
- Crypto-asset service providers fully in the obliged-entity set, aligned with MiCA.
- AMLA: direct supervision of selected high-risk financial groups; coordination of the rest.
How it hits you
More questions when you open an account or buy with large cash. Beneficial-ownership registers are not a gossip site — access is gated after Court rulings on privacy.
Heard this? Not quite.
Claim: Cash is banned.
A Union cap on large cash payments, with national adjustments. Everyday cash stays.
Latest official statements
All EU NewsNo tagged Commission, Parliament or Council statement in the current feeds.
Board one-pager
Board one-pager
Who this is for: EU finance, trade and reporting teams. Regulation (EU) 2024/1624. in 10 months · 10 Jul 2027.
Scope
- You are an obliged entity under the AML package, or you will be when the Regulation applies (including CASPs).
First 90 days
- This year: Gap current 6AMLD/national CDD vs the Regulation text.
- Before 2027: Beneficial-ownership data quality and group-wide policies under a regulation, not 27 manuals.
Penalties: Administrative fines up to a share of turnover; AMLA measures; criminal law remains national.
For companies
How to stay on the right side of this file
Practical order of work, not a substitute for counsel. Credit and financial institutions, CASPs, and non-financial obliged entities (lawyers in scope, traders in goods, agents…).
You are probably
Credit and financial institutions, CASPs, and non-financial obliged entities (lawyers in scope, traders in goods, agents…).
Effort
A scoped programme this year beats a scramble at the apply-date.
Budget
SME: owner time plus one honest vendor. Large: a named lead, not a taskforce slide.
Roles in this file
The same company can wear more than one hat. Classify before you buy a tool.
MLRO
This pack names MLRO as an owner of early work.
Gap current 6AMLD/national CDD vs the Regulation text.
Compliance
This pack names Compliance as an owner of early work.
Beneficial-ownership data quality and group-wide policies under a regulation, not 27 manuals.
Are you in scope?
Build toward- You are an obliged entity under the AML package, or you will be when the Regulation applies (including CASPs).
Usually not, if
- A bakery taking card payments. Cash-intensive and regulated sectors are the heat.
First moves
- This yearGap current 6AMLD/national CDD vs the Regulation text.MLRO
- Before 2027Beneficial-ownership data quality and group-wide policies under a regulation, not 27 manuals.Compliance
- Estate agents, art and gold dealers: you are often in. A template KYC from a bank is not your risk assessment.
If you skip this
- Waiting for a national transposition of a regulation.
Done looks like
- CDD files
- UBO records
- SAR/STR logs
- AMLA selection analysis
Keep this evidence
- CDD files
- UBO records
- SAR/STR logs
- AMLA selection analysis
Ask vendors
- Do you support the 2027 CDD data fields?
- Where do you screen high-risk third countries?
Where programmes usually break
- Waiting for a national transposition of a regulation.
Call counsel when
- Administrative fines up to a share of turnover; AMLA measures; criminal law remains national.
- A supervisor letter, a dawn information request, or a deal that warrants this file.
Enforcement
Administrative fines up to a share of turnover; AMLA measures; criminal law remains national.
National supervisors; AMLA for selected entities; FIUs for reports.
Need a stack, not one file? Open the company desk
Professional briefing
Legal architecture and duties
For counsel, compliance, and policy teams. Not advice. The Official Journal still wins.
- Instrument
- Regulation
- Legal basis
- Art 114 TFEU · Regulation (EU) 2024/1624
- Application
- Applies 10 July 2027. AMLA regulation is already standing the Authority up.
CDD and UBO as a regulation, plus a Union supervisor for selected groups. CASPs are in. Cash limits are a cap, not a ban. Beneficial-ownership access remains privacy-constrained after Court case law.
How the file is built
Obliged entities and CDD
Directly applicable customer due diligence, including crypto.
AMLA
Direct supervision of selected high-risk cross-border groups.
Operators
| Role | Who | Core duties |
|---|---|---|
| Obliged entity | Financial, CASP, and listed non-financial. | CDD, reporting, UBO, group policies. |
Scope
Union-established obliged entities and, as specified, extra-EU groups active in the Union.
In
- Laundering and terrorist-financing prevention duties in the Regulation
Out, or narrower than assumed
- Persons not in the obliged-entity list
- Low-risk products as simplified CDD — not an out
Operative provisions
| Anchor | Rule | What it does in practice |
|---|---|---|
| CDD chapters | Identify, verify, purpose, ongoing monitoring. | One Union playbook; drop 27-manual folklore. |
Secondary law and guidance
- AMLA regulatory technical standards
- High-risk third-country lists
National layer. FIUs stay national. Non-selected institutions keep a national supervisor under AMLA coordination.
How it sits with other files
Enforcement and private rights
Who
National supervisors; AMLA for selected; FIUs; criminal authorities.
Tools
Fines, licence measures, SARs.
Private rights
Limited; GDPR on unjustified account closure is the usual private fight.
Risk register
| Risk | Signal | Control |
|---|---|---|
| 27 manuals into 2027 | No gap vs the Regulation text | 2026 conversion programme. |
Open issues
- Who is selected by AMLA.
- Cash-limit national options.
- UBO access after privacy judgments.
Primary sources
Customer due diligence, beneficial ownership and cash limits become a single Union rulebook for banks, crypto, lawyers in scope, and many traders — watched by a new Authority in Frankfurt.
You feel it now
The on-switch is still coming — do not wait for the headline.
Next
Applies from 10 July 2027 (with a new AML Authority already standing up)
Where it lands
| Channel | People | Companies |
|---|---|---|
| One rulebook | More questions when you open an account or buy with large cash. Beneficial-ownership registers are not a gossip site — access is gated after Court rulings on privacy. | CDD and beneficial ownership as a regulation from July 2027 — fewer national ‘flavours’. |
| AMLA | More questions when you open an account or buy with large cash. Beneficial-ownership registers are not a gossip site — access is gated after Court rulings on privacy. | Selected groups get a Union supervisor. |
Who gains
FIUs and, if it works, anyone who would rather not share a financial system with cartels.
Who pays
Obliged entities, in KYC ops; customers, in friction.
Who pays
Obliged entities, in KYC ops; customers, in friction.
Who benefits
FIUs and, if it works, anyone who would rather not share a financial system with cartels.
Read the official text