Source: OJ L, 2024/1640, 19.6.2024Current language: EN
- Anti-money laundering
Basic legislative acts
- Sixth anti-money laundering (AML 6) directive
Article 2 Definitions
Summary What does Article 2 of the Sixth anti-money laundering (AML 6) directive say?
This is a definitions article that establishes the terminology used throughout the Directive.
It operates in two layers: first, it incorporates by reference all definitions already set out in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, and then adds a supplementary set of definitions specific to this Directive.
The additional terms defined here are largely structural and supervisory in nature, covering distinctions between financial and non-financial supervisors, the concepts of home and host Member States, and key institutional constructs such as AML/CFT supervisory colleges.
Several definitions cross-reference other EU legal acts, anchoring the terms firmly within the broader EU regulatory framework.
Important points:
- All definitions from Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 apply to this Directive, making that regulation a necessary reference point for understanding this act.
- The article draws a clear distinction between financial supervisors, who oversee credit and financial institutions, and non-financial supervisors, who oversee the non-financial sector as listed in Regulation (EU) 2024/1624.
- The home and host Member State definitions are foundational to understanding supervisory jurisdiction over obliged entities operating across borders, which is a central theme of this Directive.
Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
For the purposes of this Directive, the definitions set out in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 apply.
The following definitions also apply:
‘financial supervisor’ means a supervisor in charge of credit institutions and financial institutions;
‘non-financial supervisor’ means a supervisor in charge of the non-financial sector;
‘non-financial sector’ means the obliged entities listed in Article 3, point (3), of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624;
‘obliged entity’ means a natural or legal person listed in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 that is not exempted in accordance with Article 4, 5, 6 or 7 of that Regulation;
‘home Member State’ means the Member State where the registered office of the obliged entity is located or, if the obliged entity has no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is located;
‘host Member State’ means a Member State, other than the home Member State, in which the obliged entity operates an establishment, such as a subsidiary or a branch, or where the obliged entity operates under the freedom to provide services through an infrastructure;
‘customs authorities’ means the customs authorities as defined in Article 5, point (1), of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council(34) and the competent authorities as defined in Article 2(1), point (g), of Regulation (EU) 2018/1672 of the European Parliament and of the Council(35);
‘AML/CFT supervisory college’ means a permanent structure for cooperation and information sharing for the purposes of supervising a group or an entity that operates in a host Member State or third country;
‘draft national measure’ means the text of an act, whichever its form, which, once enacted, will have legal effect, the text being at a stage of preparation at which substantial amendments can still be made;
‘securities account’ means a securities account as defined in Article 2(1), point (28), of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council(36);
‘securities’ means financial instruments as defined in Article 4(1), point (15), of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(37).
Springlex and this text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. No liability is assumed for its content. The authentic version of this act is the one published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Definition
crypto-asset services
Definition
supervisor
Definition
securities
Definition
host Member State
Definition
financial mixed activity holding company
Definition
draft national measure
Definition
crypto-asset service provider
Definition
financial supervisor
Definition
credit institution
- a credit institution as defined in Article 4(1), point (1), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;
- a branch of a credit institution, as defined in Article 4(1), point (17), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, when located in the Union, whether its head office is located in a Member State or in a third country;
Definition
AML/CFT supervisory college
Definition
parent undertaking
- for groups whose head office is located in the Union, an obliged entity that is a parent undertaking as defined in Article 2, point (9), of Directive 2013/34/EU that is not itself a subsidiary of another undertaking in the Union, provided that at least one subsidiary undertaking is an obliged entity;
- for groups whose head office is located outside of the Union, where at least two subsidiary undertakings are obliged entities established in the Union, an undertaking within that group established in the Union that:
- is an obliged entity;
- is an undertaking that is not a subsidiary of another undertaking that is an obliged entity established in the Union;
- has a sufficient prominence within the group and a sufficient understanding of the operations of the group that are subject to the requirements of this Regulation; and
- is given the responsibility of implementing group-wide requirements under Chapter II, Section 2 of this Regulation;
Definition
home Member State
Definition
crypto-asset
Definition
non-financial supervisor
Definition
establishment
- a branch or subsidiary;
- in the case of credit institutions and financial institutions, an infrastructure qualifying as an establishment under prudential regulation;
Definition
property
Definition
competent authority
- a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU);
- a supervisory authority;
- a public authority that has the function of investigating or prosecuting money laundering, its predicate offences or terrorist financing, or that has the function of tracing, seizing or freezing and confiscating criminal assets;
- a public authority with designated responsibilities for combating money laundering or terrorist financing;
Definition
terrorist financing
Definition
group
Definition
securities account
Definition
money laundering
Definition
financial institution
- an undertaking other than a credit institution or an investment firm, which carries out one or more of the activities listed in points (2) to (12), (14) and (15) of Annex I to Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(32), including the activities of currency exchange offices (bureaux de change), but excluding the activities referred to in point (8) of Annex I to Directive (EU) 2015/2366, or an undertaking the principal activity of which is to acquire holdings, including a financial holding company, a mixed financial holding company and a financial mixed activity holding company;
- an insurance undertaking as defined in Article 13, point (1), of Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(33), insofar as it carries out life or other investment-related assurance activities covered by that Directive, including insurance holding companies and mixed-activity insurance holding companies as defined, respectively, in Article 212(1), points (f) and (g), of Directive 2009/138/EC;
- an insurance intermediary as defined in Article 2(1), point (3), of Directive (EU) 2016/97 where it acts with respect to life insurance and other investment-related insurance services, with the exception of an insurance intermediary that does not collect premiums or amounts intended for the customer and which acts under the responsibility of one or more insurance undertakings or intermediaries for the products which concern them respectively;
- an investment firm as defined in Article 4(1), point (1), of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(34);
- a collective investment undertaking, in particular:
- an undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) as defined in Article 1(2) of Directive 2009/65/EC and its management company as defined in Article 2(1), point (b), of that Directive or an investment company authorised in accordance with that Directive and which has not designated a management company, that makes available for purchase units of UCITS in the Union;
- an alternative investment fund as defined in Article 4(1), point (a), of Directive 2011/61/EU and its alternative investment fund manager as defined in Article 4(1), point (b), of that Directive that fall within the scope set out in Article 2 of that Directive;
- a central securities depository as defined in Article 2(1), point (1), of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council(35);
- a creditor as defined in Article 4, point (2), of Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(36) and in Article 3, point (b), of Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(37);
- a credit intermediary as defined in Article 4, point (5), of Directive 2014/17/EU and in Article 3, point (f), of Directive 2008/48/EC, when holding the funds as defined in Article 4, point (25), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 in connection with the credit agreement, with the exception of the credit intermediary carrying out activities under the responsibility of one or more creditors or credit intermediaries;
- a crypto-asset service provider;
- a branch of a financial institution referred to in points (a) to (i), when located in the Union, whether its head office is located in a Member State or in a third country;
Definition
customs authorities
Definition
self-regulatory body
Definition
third country
Definition
non-financial sector
Definition
funds
Definition
supervisory authority
Definition
obliged entity
Footnote 37
Footnote 36
Footnote 35
Footnote 34