Source: OJ L, 2024/1620, 19.6.2024Current language: EN
- Anti-money laundering
Basic legislative acts
- Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR)
Article 27 Procedural rules for taking supervisory measures and imposing pecuniary sanctions and periodic penalty payments
Summary What does Article 27 of the Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR) say?
This article establishes the formal investigation procedure that the Authority must follow when it discovers serious indications of potential breaches listed in Annex II, which are the more serious violations that can trigger pecuniary sanctions under Article 22.
It sets out a structured, multi-stage process designed to maintain both independence and due process: an independent investigatory team is appointed, it conducts its investigation using the powers available under Articles 17, 18, and 19, and then hands its findings to the Executive Board for a final sanctioning decision.
Crucially, the investigatory team and the Executive Board are kept strictly separate throughout, with the team playing no role in the final decision.
The Commission is also tasked with adopting delegated acts to flesh out the procedural rules around sanctions and limitation periods.
Important points:
- The Authority must appoint an independent investigatory team — one with no prior involvement in supervising the entity concerned — whenever serious indications of Annex II breaches are found.
- The rights of defence of persons under investigation are explicitly protected: they must be given the opportunity to be heard and to access the investigation file before any decision is made.
- The Commission is required to adopt delegated acts by 1 January 2027 covering procedural rules for sanctions, rights of defence, and limitation periods.
Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
Where, in carrying out its duties under this Regulation, the Authority finds that there are serious indications of the possible existence of facts liable to constitute one or more of the breaches listed in Annex II, the Authority shall appoint an independent investigatory team within the Authority to investigate the matter. The investigatory team shall not be involved or have been involved in the direct supervision of the selected obliged entity concerned and shall perform its functions independently from the Executive Board. The Authority shall develop internal procedures to determine the rules governing the selection of the members of the independent investigatory team, in particular with regard to the knowledge, background, expertise and experience of those members.
The investigatory team shall investigate the alleged breaches, taking into account any comments submitted by the persons subject to investigation, and shall submit a complete file with its findings to the Executive Board.
In order to carry out its tasks, the investigatory team may require information in accordance with Article 17 and conduct investigations and on-site inspections in accordance with Articles 18 and 19.
Where carrying out its tasks, the investigatory team shall have access to all documents and information gathered by the joint supervisory team in its supervisory activities.
Upon completion of its investigation and before submitting the file with its findings to the Executive Board, the investigatory team shall give the persons subject to investigation the opportunity to be heard on the matters being investigated. The investigatory team shall base its findings only on facts on which the persons subject to investigation have had the opportunity to comment.
The rights of defence of the persons concerned shall be fully respected during investigations under this Article.
When submitting the file with its findings to the Executive Board, the investigatory team shall notify that fact to the persons subject to investigation. The persons subject to investigation shall be entitled to have access to the file, subject to the legitimate interest of other persons in the protection of their business secrets. The right of access to the file shall not extend to confidential information affecting third parties.
On the basis of the file containing the investigatory team’s findings and, when requested by the persons concerned, after having heard the persons subject to investigation in accordance with Article 24(1), the Executive Board shall decide if one or more of the breaches listed in Annex II have been committed by the persons who are subject to investigation and, in such case, shall impose a pecuniary sanction in accordance with Article 22 and apply an administrative measure in accordance with Article 21 in addition to, or instead of, imposing a pecuniary sanction.
The investigatory team shall not participate in the deliberations of the Executive Board or in any other way intervene in the decision-making process of the Executive Board.
The Commission shall adopt further rules of procedure for the exercise of the power to impose pecuniary sanctions or periodic penalty payments, including provisions on rights of defence, temporal provisions, and the collection of pecuniary sanctions or periodic penalty payments, and shall adopt detailed rules on the limitation periods for the imposition and enforcement of penalties.
The rules referred to in the first subparagraph shall be adopted by means of delegated acts supplementing this Regulation, in accordance with Article 100.
The Commission shall adopt the delegated acts referred to in the second subparagraph by 1 January 2027.
The Authority shall refer matters for criminal prosecution to the relevant national authorities where, in carrying out its duties under this Regulation, it finds that there are serious indications of the possible existence of facts liable to constitute criminal offences. In addition, the Authority shall refrain from imposing pecuniary sanctions or periodic penalty payments where a prior acquittal or conviction arising from identical facts, or from facts which are substantially the same, has acquired the force of res judicata as the result of criminal proceedings under national law.
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
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
third country
Definition
funds