EU Intensifies Crypto Oversight and AML Reforms, Donohoe Reveals at EAFCS 2025

The European Union is moving forward with plans to enhance the traceability of cryptocurrency transactions, Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe confirmed during his keynote speech at the European Anti-Financial Crime Summit 2025 (EAFCS).

The initiative forms part of the bloc’s broader strategy to strengthen financial transparency and combat illicit activity in digital finance.

Donohoe, who also serves as Ireland’s Minister for Finance, said the EU is pushing for crypto asset transfers to be subject to the same data collection standards as traditional financial systems. “Another element of the work that we’re doing at an EU legislative level is a reclass of performance transfer mechanisms,” he said. “Specifically, to record data on the senders and recipients of funds [so it] now applies to crypto asset service providers.”

Emphasizing the importance of broadening the EU’s financial regulatory scope, Donohoe remarked, “It’s essential that we broaden the scope of this kind of financial regulation. To move it beyond the more traditional forms of financial transfer. To now also deal with issues such as the transparency of crypto asset transfers.”

The Financial Transparency System (FTS), maintained by the European Commission, already provides public access to data concerning funding beneficiaries and contractors under EU budget management. The proposed crypto tracking mechanisms are expected to extend this ethos of transparency to digital asset flows.

In addition to crypto oversight, Donohoe highlighted the significance of establishing the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which will be tasked with harmonizing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules across member states.

“Closer cooperation and coordination is absolutely critical. Not just at an international level, at a European level,” Donohoe stressed during his address, pointing to AMLA as a cornerstone of that effort.

He referenced the creation of a unified regulatory framework under the EU’s new Single Rulebook for AML and CFT, which AMLA will be charged with enforcing. “This initiative is a landmark development. What it aims to do is to create a strong toolkit for tackling these deeply serious issues,” Donohoe said.

“In addition to harmonizing huge measures, this package will also extend the possibilities of information sharing, which has long been identified as a challenge to how we can effectively combat financial crime,” he concluded.

The combined focus on digital asset regulation and standardized anti-financial crime tools reflects the EU’s evolving strategy to stay ahead of emerging threats in a fast-changing global financial environment.

By fLEXI tEAM