Art. 38 Settlement of disagreements between non-financial supervisors in cross-border situations | Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR) | AML

This article is the non-financial sector counterpart to Article 33, which covers the same mediation and dispute-resolution mechanism for financial supervisors.

Article 38 establishes the process by which the Authority can step in to assist non-financial supervisors when they are unable to reach agreement with one another.

The Authority's role here is that of a mediator, setting a time limit for conciliation and issuing an opinion where necessary.

Notably, unlike Article 33 for financial supervisors, this article does not grant the Authority binding decision-making powers to force a resolution — it stops at mediation and opinions.

Important points:

Non-financial supervisors are required to request the Authority's assistance without undue delay when cooperation obligations under Union law break down, an agreement is not adhered to, or two months pass without a satisfactory response to a request for action.
The Authority's Executive Board assesses whether a request for assistance is justified before proceeding.
The Authority acts as a mediator during the conciliation phase and may issue an opinion on how to settle the disagreement, but cannot impose a binding resolution on non-financial supervisors.

1. The Authority may assist non-financial supervisors in reaching an agreement in accordance with the procedure set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article at the request of one or more non-financial supervisors pursuant to Article 46, 47, 50 or 54 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640 or in other instances where a non-financial supervisor disagrees with the procedure or content of an action, proposed action or inactivity of another non-financial supervisor insofar as it affects its own supervisory tasks and responsibilities in relation to a specific obliged entity or multiple obliged entities.
1. In cases other than those covered by Articles 46, 47, 50 and 54 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640, a non-financial supervisor shall request the assistance of the Authority without undue delay where a provision of Union law requires that non-financial supervisor to reach, with another non-financial supervisor or other non-financial supervisors, an agreement, an arrangement or other form of established or formalised cooperation relating to the supervision of specific obliged entities, and any of the following occurs:
  1. the agreement has been reached but has not been effectively applied or adhered to by one of the parties,
  2. a non-financial supervisor concludes on the basis of objective reasons that a disagreement exists;
  3. two months have elapsed from the date of receipt by a non-financial supervisor of a request from another non-financial supervisor to take certain action in order to comply with the legislative acts referred to in Article 1(2) of this Regulation and the requested supervisor has not adopted a decision that satisfies the request.
1. The Executive Board shall assess any request referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 and notify the relevant parties whether it considers the request justified and intends to act upon it in accordance with this Article.
1. The Authority shall set a time limit for conciliation between the non-financial supervisors taking into account any relevant time periods specified in Union law and the complexity and urgency of the matter. For the purposes of the conciliation phase, the Authority shall act as a mediator. Where necessary or provided for in Union law, the Authority shall issue an opinion on how to settle the disagreement.