Europe’s Financial Supervisors Join Forces with AMLA to Step Up Anti-Money Laundering Fight

Key Takeaways

• AMLA and ESAs Sign MoU: Europe’s new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) and the three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA) signed a multilateral Memorandum of Understanding to formalize cooperation and information exchange.
• Strengthening Supervision Across Sectors: The agreement outlines how the four authorities will share intelligence, coordinate supervision, and jointly address money laundering and terrorist financing risks across banking, insurance, and securities markets.
• Regular and Ad-Hoc Collaboration: The MoU establishes both structured and on-demand information-sharing channels, including alerts on elevated ML/TF risks, changes in business models, and governance concerns.
• Joint Committees and Oversight: Each authority gains observer access to the other’s boards, standing committees, and working groups to support alignment on strategy, risk, and regulatory development.
• Toward a Unified EU AML Framework: The MoU fulfills Article 91 of the AMLA Regulation and marks a key step in Europe’s shift toward integrated, risk-based anti-money laundering supervision.

Deep Dive

The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA) have signed a detailed multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU) with the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), formalizing how the institutions will cooperate and exchange information going forward.

The agreement, signed on 27 June 2025, lays the groundwork for a coordinated supervisory regime focused on money laundering and terrorist financing risks across the financial and non-financial sectors. While non-binding in legal terms, the MMoU carries significant practical weight, ensuring that AMLA and the ESAs can share intelligence, align priorities, and work together to build a more resilient European financial system.

The MMoU fulfills a requirement under Article 91 of the AMLA Regulation (EU) 2024/1620, mandating formalized cooperation between AMLA and the ESAs. It sets out a practical framework for day-to-day and strategic collaboration across a range of areas, from supervisory convergence and joint risk assessments to policy development and knowledge exchange.

Petra Hielkema, Chair of EIOPA and Chair of the Joint Committee of the ESAs for 2025, underscored the significance of the new pact, “The memorandum we signed demonstrates the strong commitment of Europe’s financial supervisors to working closely together to combat money laundering and terrorist financing—crimes that undermine social justice and the well-being of our communities.”

Bruna Szego, Chair of AMLA, called the agreement a milestone in Europe’s evolving AML/CFT landscape, “Cooperation between AMLA and the ESAs is essential so that we support each other to effectively deliver on our respective mandates and work together for a safer and more resilient Europe.”

The MMoU outlines both structured and ad hoc methods for sharing information that impacts financial stability, regulatory oversight, and AML/CFT compliance. This includes:

• Regular exchanges on cross-sectoral risks, such as where money laundering or terrorist financing activity might impact the solvency or conduct of institutions.
• Joint attendance at board and committee meetings as observers, ensuring early alignment of supervisory decisions and strategic priorities.
• Information-sharing obligations, including alerts when institutions, activities, or third-party providers raise concerns related to ML/TF risks.
• Coordination on regulatory instruments, with Chairs of the Authorities meeting at least twice per year to discuss joint initiatives, update each other, and allocate resources to shared projects.
• Confidentiality protections and secure channels for sensitive communications, ensuring that all shared data is treated with strict professional secrecy and used solely for supervisory purposes.

The MMoU also includes mechanisms for resolving disputes, updating the agreement over time, and collaborating on training and workshops to build supervisory capacity.

Though explicitly described as a “statement of intent” without legal enforceability, the MMoU is expected to play a key role in operationalizing AMLA’s supervision of high-risk financial entities. AMLA, headquartered in Frankfurt, is tasked with direct oversight of the EU’s riskiest cross-border financial institutions, while also coordinating national supervisors and Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs).

The ESAs, meanwhile, maintain their mandate to uphold the stability and integrity of the EU financial system in their respective sectors. Together, their joint efforts under the new MMoU aim to ensure that supervisory action, whether preventive or corrective, is well-informed, harmonized, and timely.

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