Source: AMLA consultation paper draft
- Anti-money laundering
AMLR supplemental acts
- RTS on group-wide minimum requirements and additional measures for third-country subsidiaries and branches
Article 17 Determination of sufficient prominence
This is a draft act
This text has been parsed from the AMLA consultation paper draft as published on 16 April 2026. While we run a suite of validations, the automated parsing can result in errors. Also, before it is finally adopted by the Commission, its wording, numbering and references may change, and entire articles might be removed or added.
Summary What does Article 17 of the RTS on group-wide minimum requirements and additional measures for third-country subsidiaries and branches say?
This article provides a clear decision-making hierarchy for identifying which EU-based obliged entity holds "sufficient prominence" within a third-country-headed group — a concept that feeds directly into the definition of "parent undertaking in the Union" under Regulation (EU) 2024/1624.
It is a technical, tiebreaker-style article that sets out a ranked sequence of criteria to follow when a group's head office sits outside the EU and no single obliged entity in the Union is already an obvious parent.
It connects closely to Article 18, which deals with the separate but related concept of "sufficient understanding of operations."
Important points:
- This article applies to groups with a head office in a third country where at least two obliged entities are established in the Union and are not subsidiaries of a Union-based obliged entity.
- The first criterion for sufficient prominence is holding-company status at the highest level of consolidation in the Union; if that does not apply, prominence falls to the entity with the higher average customer count or transaction volume over the previous three years.
- If neither criterion is conclusive, the entity with the highest total annual turnover — as approved by its management body — is designated as having sufficient prominence.
Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
Pursuant to Article 2(1) number (42)(b)(iii) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 where there are at least two obliged entities in the Union that are part of the same group with a head office in a third country and they are not subsidiaries of an undertaking that is an obliged entity established in the Union, the following entity shall be considered as being the one with sufficient prominence within the group:
the obliged entity that is the financial mixed activity holding company as defined in Article 2(1)(10) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, the non-financial mixed activity holding company as defined in Article 2(1)(13) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 or the 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 as defined in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 or the 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 at the highest level of consolidation in accordance with Union law for accounting purposes, if the head office in a third country has established such undertaking in the Union.
in case letter (a) does not apply, the obliged entity with the higher of the following two amounts:
average number of customers on 31 December of the previous three years immediately preceding the current calendar year;
average amount in euro or the equivalent in national currency at the official exchange rate with the euro available on 31 December of the reference calendar year of incoming and outgoing transactions carried out in the previous three years immediately preceding the current calendar year, where applicable.
Where paragraph 1 does not conclusively determine sufficient prominence of one obliged entity over the other(s), sufficient prominence shall be the obliged entity with the highest total annual turnover according to the latest available accounts approved by the management body.
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
non-financial mixed activity holding company
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
crypto-asset
Definition
property
Definition
management body
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