The European Parliament and Council have reached a political agreement on the establishment of an Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA).
This decision marks a pivotal moment in the EU’s ongoing efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
AMLA is set to play a crucial role in supervising the EU’s new rules aimed at thwarting dirty money flows. The authority will have the responsibility to directly oversee financial entities that are deemed most risky, particularly those with operations spanning across at least six member states. AMLA will also assume a supervisory role for at least one entity per member state and will step in to manage supervisory tasks in case of failures.
Furthermore, AMLA is designed to act as a central coordinating hub, ensuring that supervisory actions across different EU countries are harmonized. It will also mediate and settle disputes between national authorities, as proposed by the Parliament. In supporting financial intelligence units, AMLA will play a significant part in analyzing suspicious transactions and detecting money laundering cases, managing the FIU.Net for information sharing.
The agreement reached extends beyond the establishment of AMLA. It encompasses harmonization of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing rules across member states, aiming for a more uniform application. New measures include the creation of channels for reporting breaches, whistleblower protection, and enhanced cooperation between national Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and AMLA. Additionally, new rules against circumvention of targeted financial sanctions have been integrated, with AMLA supervising their implementation.
While the agreement has been secured, discussions continue on the location of AMLA’s headquarters, expected to be selected in 2024. The seat will be determined following a collaborative process involving hearings with interested candidates.
Co-rapporteur Eva Maria Poptcheva (Renew, Spain) highlighted the significance of AMLA, saying, “We have a deal on the substantive provisions of the new Anti-money Laundering Authority. AMLA will be a game changer to crack down on dirty money in the EU. It will supervise the 40 riskiest financial entities and it will oversee the non-financial sector to prevent cases like the Pandora Papers. AMLA will also play a crucial role avoiding the circumvention of targeted financial sanctions like the ones included in the 11 sanctions packages approved by the EU against Russia. Next step is to find the best possible location to host AMLA.”
Emil Radev (EPP, Bulgaria) also expressed optimism about AMLA’s role, stating, “The EP gave AMLA an important and strong role in the fight against money laundering. We hope that it will guarantee more financial security and better cooperation with national supervisors and FIUs in a cross-border environment, where risks have been growing at a constant pace. For the first time, AMLA will supervise directly the riskiest companies in the financial sector, as well as cryptocurrency providers that operate in several Member States.”
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![Temenos (SIX: TEMN) today announced that National Bank of Iraq (NBI), part of the Capital Bank Group, has successfully gone live with Temenos core banking and payments. NBI, which has 27 branches across Iraq, offers a comprehensive range of services to individuals and businesses in the country. Since 2005, NBI has been majority owned by Capital Bank, one of the top financial institutions operating in the Jordanian and regional markets, with assets of approximately JOD 7.6 billion[1]. With this implementation, NBI moved from its legacy systems onto the same core banking platform as other entities in the Capital Bank Group. This will enable NBI to operate more efficiently and integrate seamlessly with other systems to develop new products faster and deliver an improved customer experience. Capital Bank Group is a long-standing Temenos customer with other entities in the Group including Capital Bank of Jordan, Bank Audi, Société Générale Bank Jordan and NBI Saudi Arabia, already on the Temenos platform. NBI also becomes the first part of the group to adopt Temenos Payments, which enabled the bank to process more than 100,000 transactions of incoming and outgoing domestic and international payments in the first 15 days of operation, with a 99% straight-through processing rate. The migration to the Temenos platform for core banking and payments at NBI was completed in under 12 months thanks to Temenos’ pre-configured banking and payments capabilities and APIs which reduced the need for complex customizations, as well as close collaboration between Temenos, NBI, Capital Bank and delivery partner ITSS. This success was recently recognized in the IBS Intelligence Innovation Awards, with Capital Bank winning ‘Best Implementation of Core Banking Services'. The implementation at NBI follows several other successful transformation projects with Temenos for Capital Bank in the last few years, including the launch of NBI’s branch operations in Saudi Arabia in just 45 days, as well as the integration of Bank Audi and the former Jordanian operations of Société Générale, each of which was achieved in under four months. Collectively, these projects helped Capital Bank to increase operational efficiency by more than 50% within three years, bringing significant cost savings and an improved customer experience. With faster, more accurate processing and immediate service requests, the bank has maintained high customer retention rates and a reputation for service excellence. Izzidin Abusalameh, Chief Operations Officer, Capital Bank Group, commented: “This achievement marks a significant milestone in our digital transformation journey and positions us as a leading player in the banking industry. We have seamlessly transitioned the National Bank of Iraq to a cutting-edge core banking system which will not only enhance operational efficiency but also support providing our customers with a superior digital banking experience. Our continued partnership with Temenos has not only provided us with an advanced technological platform but has also facilitated a culture of flexibility and adaptability, enabling us to execute our ambitious growth plans.” Lee Allcorn, Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, Temenos, said: “Congratulations to National Bank of Iraq and the Capital Bank team on this successful implementation that gives NBI business agility and the same modern technology platform and ability to deploy fast with pre-configured banking capabilities as the rest of the group. With Temenos, Capital Bank Group is future-ready, and we are proud to support them as they continue to innovate and leverage our platform to grow sustainably and enhance the banking experience for customers.”](https://fintech.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/rupixen-Q59HmzK38eQ-unsplash-2-218x150.jpg "Flutterwave teams up with Acquired.com to streamline outward remittances in EU and UK")
