Source: OJ L, 2024/1620, 19.6.2024Current language: EN
- Anti-money laundering
Basic legislative acts
- Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR)
Article 15 Cooperation within the AML/CFT supervisory system for the purposes of direct supervision
Summary What does Article 15 of the Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR) say?
This article governs the working relationship between national financial supervisors and the Authority in the context of direct supervision of selected obliged entities.
It establishes the obligations of financial supervisors to provide information and assistance to the Authority, and tasks the Authority with developing implementing technical standards to formalise how that cooperation works in practice.
The article connects closely to Article 13 (which governs the selection of obliged entities for direct supervision) and Article 16 (which establishes joint supervisory teams), effectively serving as the operational glue between entity selection and day-to-day supervisory execution.
Important points:
- Financial supervisors are required to provide the Authority with all information necessary for carrying out its tasks, and must follow the Authority's instructions when assisting with supervisory activities related to selected obliged entities.
- The Authority is required to develop implementing technical standards covering the conditions for financial supervisor assistance, the periodic risk assessment process, transfer of supervisory tasks, selection procedures, and the composition of joint supervisory teams, with draft standards to be submitted to the Commission by 1 January 2026.
- The Commission is empowered to adopt those implementing technical standards in accordance with Article 53.
Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
Without prejudice to the Authority’s power pursuant to Article 21(3), point (a), to receive directly, or have direct access to, information reported on an ongoing basis by selected obliged entities, financial supervisors shall provide the Authority with all information necessary for carrying out the tasks conferred on the Authority in accordance with this Regulation and other applicable Union law.
Where appropriate, financial supervisors shall assist the Authority with the preparation and implementation of any acts relating to the tasks referred to in Article 5(2), point (b), as regards all selected obliged entities, including assistance in verification activities. They shall follow the instructions given by the Authority when performing those tasks.
The Authority shall develop implementing technical standards specifying:
the conditions under which financial supervisors are to assist the Authority pursuant to paragraph 2;
the process of periodic assessment referred to in Article 12(1), including the roles of the supervisory authorities and the Authority in assessing the risk profile of credit institutions and financial institutions referred to in that paragraph;
the working arrangements for the transfer of supervisory tasks and powers to the Authority or from the Authority to national level following a selection process, including arrangements on the continuity of pending supervisory procedures or investigations;
the procedures for the preparation and adoption of decisions on the selection of obliged entities;
the detailed rules and arrangements for the composition and functioning of the joint supervisory teams referred to in Article 16(1) and (2).
The Authority shall submit those draft implementing technical standards to the Commission by 1 January 2026.
The Commission is empowered to adopt the implementing technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Article 53.
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
financial mixed activity holding company
Definition
crypto-asset service provider
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
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
selected obliged entity
Definition
crypto-asset
Definition
property
Definition
group
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
self-regulatory body
Definition
third country
Definition
funds
Definition
supervisory authority