The Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism has published a final report containing regulatory technical standards under Article 53(10) of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive that set a common EU methodology for supervisors to assess breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules and determine enforcement outcomes. The framework is designed to reduce divergent national approaches so that similar breaches in similar circumstances lead to the same supervisory response across the EU, while preserving proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness. Under the standards, supervisors will follow a shared step-by-step approach. They must assess the gravity of a breach against common indicators including how long it lasted, whether it was repeated and what impact it had, then classify the breach into one of four gravity levels and use common criteria to determine the appropriate enforcement outcome. The standards apply across all sectors covered by AML rules, including both financial and non-financial entities. Once adopted by the European Commission, the standards will apply directly and become legally binding in all EU member states.
Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism2026-07-08
Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism publishes final standards for harmonised EU AML breach enforcement
The Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism has published final regulatory technical standards to harmonise how EU supervisors enforce breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules. The standards create a common method for assessing breach gravity, assigning one of four severity levels and determining the enforcement response across financial and non-financial sectors. They will become directly binding across the EU once adopted by the European Commission.