AMLA Board Member Stresses Cross-Border Cooperation and Feedback Loops in Financial Intelligence

Key Takeaways

• AMLA Executive Board Member Hennie Verbeek-Kusters used the 83rd IBSA General Membership Meeting in Brussels on September 14, 2026 to outline AMLA's priorities for financial intelligence.
• She emphasized relevant, accurate and timely intelligence, stronger feedback loops across the AML/CFT system, cross-border information-sharing, and new public-private information-sharing mechanisms.
• Compliance teams should treat this as a signal of supervisory expectations on suspicious activity reporting quality and cooperation.

Deep Dive

AMLA Executive Board Member Hennie Verbeek-Kusters used the 83rd IBSA General Membership Meeting in Brussels on September 14, 2026 to outline AMLA's priorities for financial intelligence. She emphasized relevant, accurate and timely intelligence, stronger feedback loops across the AML/CFT system, cross-border information-sharing, and new public-private information-sharing mechanisms. Compliance teams should treat this as a signal of supervisory expectations on suspicious activity reporting quality and cooperation.

Several themes stand out. First, intelligence should be relevant, accurate and timely, which implies scrutiny of suspicious transaction and activity report (STR/SAR) quality, narrative clarity, and filing speed. Second, effective intelligence depends on feedback loops among obliged entities, FIUs, law enforcement, and supervisors, so firms should expect more structured engagement and should be prepared to use feedback to refine detection and reporting. Third, cross-border information exchange and a shared understanding of typologies were highlighted, using cash compensation schemes as an example of how timely sharing between jurisdictions can reveal cross-border links and prevent replication elsewhere. Groups operating across multiple EU Member States are most exposed to this emphasis.

Looking ahead, Verbeek-Kusters pointed to AMLA's role in supporting joint analyses of cross-border cases and to new mechanisms for information-sharing between public authorities and the private sector. No specific timelines were given, and details on how these mechanisms will operate remain to be clarified. Firms should monitor AMLA's forthcoming guidance, regulatory technical standards, and the implementation of the new EU AML/CFT framework for operational detail.

Recommended actions: (1) assess STR/SAR quality and timeliness, including internal metrics and escalation processes; (2) establish or strengthen channels for receiving and acting on FIU and supervisory feedback; (3) review group-wide and cross-border information-sharing arrangements, including data protection safeguards; (4) update typology libraries and scenario tuning, including cash-based compensation-type schemes; and (5) evaluate readiness to participate in public-private partnerships and information-sharing initiatives.

Risk implications are moderate and forward-looking. There is no immediate compliance deadline, but the speech indicates rising supervisory expectations for intelligence quality and cross-border coordination. Firms with weak reporting quality, fragmented group-level visibility, or limited FIU engagement face greater regulatory and reputational risk as AMLA's supervisory and coordination role matures.

Source: AMLA - Anti-Money Laundering Authority