AMLA Lays Out Its 2026–2028 Game Plan as Europe’s New AML Regulator Moves Toward Full Operations

Key Takeaways

• AMLA Moves From Setup to Delivery: The 2026–2028 Single Programming Document marks AMLA’s transition from institutional build-out to operational supervision at EU level.
• Three Pillars Will Shape EU AML Oversight: AMLA’s priorities center on completing the Single Rulebook, driving supervisory convergence, and strengthening cooperation among Financial Intelligence Units.
• 2026 Is the Inflection Point: The Authority will focus on turning mandates into practice through direct supervision, FIU framework implementation, and the foundations for indirect oversight.
• Early Signals for the Market: By prioritising clarity on areas such as customer due diligence and supervisory consistency, the SPD gives firms advance notice of where expectations are heading.
• Rapid Scaling Underway: AMLA plans to more than triple its workforce by 2027 as it builds the capacity needed to fulfil its supervisory and coordination role.

Deep Dive

The European Union's new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) published its Single Programming Document for 2026–2028, the first multi-year plan since the Authority was established. The document sets out how AMLA intends to move from institutional set-up to day-to-day delivery, offering the clearest signal yet of how EU-level AML supervision will take shape in practice.

The plan serves two audiences at once. Internally, it maps out AMLA’s priorities, timelines, and staffing needs as it scales up. For the market, it is meant as a roadmap, flagging where rules, supervision, and coordination are heading, and when firms and national authorities should expect to feel the impact.

At the heart of the document are three strategic objectives that will define AMLA’s role in Europe’s evolving AML and counter-terrorist financing framework.

The first is completing the Single Rulebook, with an emphasis on clarity and simplification. AMLA highlights areas such as customer due diligence and business relationships as priorities, alongside the need for a more consistent supervisory framework across Member States.

The second objective is supervisory convergence, a long-standing challenge in the EU AML landscape. Here, AMLA is aiming to reduce differences in how rules are applied and enforced, particularly as it prepares to take on direct supervisory responsibilities.

The third is strengthening cooperation between Financial Intelligence Units, an area where fragmentation has repeatedly been flagged by EU institutions as a weak point in the system.

Together, these three pillars signal a shift away from abstract design questions toward the practical mechanics of supervision and coordination.

What AMLA Will Focus on in 2026

Those strategic goals are translated into five interlinked areas of activity that will shape AMLA’s work from 2026 onward.

These include delivering on its core regulatory mandates, advancing direct supervision, operationalising the EU FIU framework, laying the groundwork for indirect supervision and oversight of national authorities, and building AMLA’s own internal risk frameworks.

While the document spans three years, 2026 is clearly positioned as the year when plans start turning into processes, particularly on supervision and FIU cooperation. AMLA is also explicit that the Single Programming Document is not just an internal planning exercise. The Authority says it is prioritising workstreams that provide early clarity and direction to the market, while also signalling where further input will be sought through public consultations.

For compliance teams, the message is subtle but clear. Even before formal supervisory actions begin, expectations are starting to crystallise around how AMLA wants rules interpreted and applied across the EU.

Building the Authority Itself

Alongside its policy and supervisory ambitions, AMLA is continuing to scale up its own organisation. According to the document, staff numbers are expected to grow from 120 at the end of 2025 to 432 by the end of 2027, supported by expanded IT infrastructure and governance arrangements.

That growth is presented as a prerequisite for taking on both direct supervision and oversight of national authorities, roles that will require significantly more operational capacity than AMLA currently has.

Announcing the plan, Bruna Szego, Chair of AMLA, framed the document as a turning point.

“AMLA’s first Single Programming Document sets out our path to full operations, providing clarity for the market while we build an Authority that is technically excellent and grounded in cooperation.”

The Single Programming Document does not create new legal obligations on its own, but it does mark a clear change of gear. AMLA is moving beyond institutional design and into the phase where supervision, coordination, and enforcement start to feel tangible.

For firms operating across the EU, and for national supervisors, the next three years will be less about theory and more about how Europe’s new AML architecture works in practice.

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