Art. 1 Subject matter | Sixth anti-money laundering (AML 6) directive | AML

This is the foundational scope article of the Directive, setting out the seven broad areas it governs.

Rather than imposing specific obligations itself, it acts as a roadmap for the rest of the Directive, signalling that this instrument operates alongside Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, which covers the obligations of obliged entities directly.

Together, they form the core of the EU's AML/CFT legislative package.

The Directive's focus is on the institutional and governmental architecture of the AML/CFT framework: national-level measures, supervisory structures, FIUs, registers, and inter-authority cooperation.

Important points:

The Directive covers seven distinct areas, ranging from national risk measures to inter-authority cooperation, making it a wide-ranging institutional framework instrument.
The scope explicitly includes the setup of and access to beneficial ownership registers, bank account registers, and real estate information, which are key transparency tools.
Cooperation between competent authorities — including FIUs, supervisory bodies, and law enforcement — and with authorities under other Union legal acts is a named subject of the Directive.

This Directive lays down rules concerning:

the measures applicable to sectors exposed to money laundering and terrorist financing, at national level;
the requirements in relation to registration of, identification of, and checks on, senior management and beneficial owners of obliged entities;
the identification of money laundering and terrorist financing risks at Union and Member State level;
the set-up of and access to beneficial ownership and bank account registers and access to real estate information;
the responsibilities and tasks of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs);
the responsibilities and tasks of bodies involved in the supervision of obliged entities;
cooperation between competent authorities and cooperation with authorities covered by other Union legal acts.