AMLA Publishes Reporting Guidance to Help Identify Financial Institutions Eligible for Direct EU Supervision

The European Union's new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) has taken another significant step towards assuming direct supervisory responsibilities by publishing detailed reporting guidance designed to identify financial institutions that could fall under its direct oversight from 2028. The initiative forms part of the authority's broader implementation of the EU's new anti-money laundering framework and represents a key milestone in the transition from nationally led supervision to a centralised European supervisory model.

Under the new AML framework, AMLA will become the direct supervisor of a limited number of financial institutions and groups considered to present the highest money laundering and terrorist financing risks across the European Union. The first formal selection of these entities is scheduled for 2027, with direct supervision beginning in 2028. Before that process can take place, however, AMLA requires consistent information from national supervisory authorities to determine which institutions satisfy the eligibility criteria established under the legislation.

To facilitate this exercise, AMLA has released a standardised reporting package consisting of structured reporting templates together with detailed interpretative guidance explaining how the information should be completed. Rather than collecting data directly from financial institutions, the authority has instructed national competent authorities to organise the collection process within their respective jurisdictions before transmitting the completed information to AMLA for assessment.

The reporting framework is intended to ensure that supervisory authorities across all Member States collect information in a uniform manner, reducing inconsistencies that could affect the identification process. AMLA has emphasised that harmonised reporting will improve data quality and support comparable assessments across the European financial sector, providing a consistent basis for determining which institutions should be considered for direct European supervision.

Eligibility for AMLA's direct supervision is not based solely on size. Instead, institutions must satisfy legal criteria established under the EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation, including cross-border activity within multiple Member States. Eligible institutions are subsequently assessed using AMLA's risk methodology, which evaluates both inherent money laundering and terrorist financing risks and the effectiveness of existing controls before determining the residual risk profile that ultimately informs the supervisory selection process. During the initial selection cycle, AMLA expects to place up to 40 financial institutions or groups under its direct supervision.

The authority has also sought to improve transparency around the reporting process by publishing practical implementation materials for firms and supervisors. Following a public webinar held in June 2026 that attracted more than 2,500 participants, AMLA released presentation slides, worked examples, completed reporting templates and a recording of the session to help reporting entities understand the technical requirements and common reporting scenarios. The published materials illustrate how different organisational structures, including both standalone institutions and financial groups, should complete the reporting templates requested by their national supervisors.

National supervisory authorities remain responsible for engaging directly with institutions under their supervision and for coordinating the submission of the required information. AMLA has clarified that only entities formally requested by their national supervisor will need to complete the reporting package, while the authority itself remains the ultimate recipient of the collected information and establishes the technical specifications governing the exercise.

The reporting exercise represents an important preparatory phase rather than the commencement of direct supervision itself. Information gathered through the templates will enable AMLA to compile a provisional list of institutions meeting the legal eligibility requirements before applying its supervisory risk assessment methodology. Following validation and quality checks with national supervisors, the authority is expected to finalise the provisional list ahead of the 2027 selection process.

The initiative forms part of a broader transformation of Europe's anti-money laundering supervisory architecture. Alongside preparations for direct supervision, AMLA has been developing harmonised technical standards covering suspicious transaction reporting, ongoing monitoring, risk assessment methodologies and supervisory convergence across Member States. Collectively, these measures are intended to reduce fragmentation between national AML regimes while establishing more consistent supervisory expectations for financial institutions operating across the European Union.

Industry participants are expected to review the reporting guidance carefully and ensure that governance, legal, compliance and data management teams are prepared to support any information requests issued by their national competent authorities. Although the reporting exercise does not automatically place an institution under AMLA's supervision, it constitutes a critical step in determining which firms may ultimately become subject to direct European oversight beginning in 2028.

By fLEXI tEAM