WHAT IS AMLR
What is AMLR? The meaning in plain English
One EU-wide rulebook for anti-money laundering, applying directly from 10 July 2027.
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AMLR stands for the Anti-Money Laundering Regulation, formally Regulation (EU) 2024/1624. It was adopted on 31 May 2024 and applies from 10 July 2027 (Article 90).
Regulation, not directive
The old framework relied on directives. Each country wrote its own version, and the result was 27 slightly different rulebooks. A regulation is “binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States”, which is the wording used at the end of the AMLR itself. You do not wait for national law to tell you what the customer due diligence rules are; they are already written.
The package around it
The AMLR is one of three pieces:
- the AMLR itself, containing the rules for businesses;
- Directive (EU) 2024/1640, which deals with supervisors, registers and national risk assessments, and which Member States must transpose by 10 July 2027 (with some earlier deadlines for specific articles);
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1620, which created the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA).
The AMLR says that references to the old Directive (EU) 2015/849 are to be read as references to the AMLR and the new Directive (Article 89).
What the rules cover
Chapter by chapter, the AMLR sets out internal controls and the business-wide risk assessment, customer due diligence, beneficial ownership, reporting of suspicions, record keeping, and limits on large cash payments. Some examples from the text:
- Customer due diligence is triggered when you establish a business relationship, or carry out an occasional transaction of at least EUR 10,000 (Article 19(1)). Crypto-asset service providers use EUR 1,000 for occasional transactions (Article 19(3)).
- Businesses must appoint a compliance officer, and a member of the management body as compliance manager (Article 11).
- Persons trading in goods or services cannot accept or make cash payments above EUR 10,000 (Article 80), though Member States may set lower limits and Article 80(4) exempts, for example, payments between private individuals.
What it does not do
It is not a replacement for your national supervisor. In Malta, for example, the FIAU remains the body you deal with day to day. AMLA focuses on coordination and, from 2028, direct supervision of a small number of high-risk cross-border financial groups.
What this means for you
Knowing the definition is the easy bit. The useful question is how far your current policies sit from Chapter III and the compliance-function requirements. Run the readiness checklist to find out, then send us the result through the enquiry form if you want a second opinion.
General information, not legal advice.