The European Union’s new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) will have its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial capital. The supervisory body announced it will begin operations in mid-2025. AMLA will have the authority to oversee financial institutions that operate across borders or are considered high-risk, including crypto companies.
Crypto Asset Markets Regulation to Take Effect in 2024
AMLA will coordinate its activities with financial intelligence units and regulators in other European Union countries. A press release by the EU Council and the Council of Europe on February 22nd announced Frankfurt as the preferred city for the new agency’s headquarters. The European Central Bank is also located in this city. Shortlisted alternative locations included Brussels, Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Riga, Vilnius, and Vienna.
AMLA’s general assembly will consist of representatives from regulatory bodies and financial intelligence units of all European Union member countries, while its executive board will consist of a president and five independent full-time members.
The first comprehensive European Union crypto framework, the Crypto Asset Markets (MiCA), came into effect in June 2023, but the implementation of rules concerning asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, largely under the stablecoin umbrella, is expected to take effect in June 2024. Rules addressing crypto asset service providers, including trading platforms, wallet providers, and cryptocurrency exchanges and services, are set to take effect in December 2024.
EU Discusses Artificial Intelligence Legislation
Meanwhile, the European Union is busy preparing regulations concerning the use of artificial intelligence. On February 13th, the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Civil Liberties Committees approved a preliminary agreement on the world’s first AI-focused legislation, the European Artificial Intelligence Act.
The European Union Artificial Intelligence Act aims to create safeguards, including copyright protection for content creators in response to productive AI models. It also bans AI applications that pose a threat to citizens’ rights, such as biometric categorization and social scoring. The first parliamentary vote on the Artificial Intelligence Act is scheduled for April 2024.
