European Union · AML

AMLR: the EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation and what changes on 10 July 2027

Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 replaces national customer due diligence rules with one directly applicable rulebook from 10 July 2027. AMLA writes the technical standards, and the Sixth Directive (AMLD6) leaves supervisors, FIUs and registers to member states.

In brief
  • The AMLR applies from 10 July 2027 and binds every member state directly. For football agents and professional football clubs it applies from 10 July 2029 (Art 90).
  • Auditors, external accountants, tax advisers, notaries and lawyers in transactions, trust and company service providers and estate agents are obliged entities under Article 3.
  • A beneficial owner through ownership holds 25% or more of the shares, voting rights or other ownership interest, counted across every level of ownership (Art 52).
  • Customer information must be updated at least every year for higher-risk customers and at least every five years for all others (Art 26).
  • AMLA sent its final draft CDD standards to the European Commission on 1 October 2026. They are not yet adopted.

European Union · AML/CTF · AMLA (Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism) and national supervisors · Reviewed 5 Nov 2026

Industries: All industries

What it is

What it is

The EU AML package has three main parts. The Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR), Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, sets the rules obliged entities follow: customer due diligence, beneficial ownership, politically exposed persons, reliance and record keeping. The Sixth AML Directive (AMLD6), Directive (EU) 2024/1640, tells member states how to organise supervisors, financial intelligence units and registers. The AMLA Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2024/1620, creates the new EU authority, AMLA, based in Frankfurt.

Because the AMLR is a regulation, national laws stop setting the core CDD content on 10 July 2027. What stays national comes through AMLD6: member states designate and run supervisors and FIUs, maintain beneficial ownership registers, and give access to real estate information. Member states may also keep or adopt cash limits lower than the AMLR's EUR 10,000 cap on cash payments for goods or services (Art 80).

AMLA has two jobs that matter to most firms. It drafts the regulatory technical standards that fill in the AMLR, including the CDD standard under Article 28(1), and it coordinates national supervisors. It will also directly supervise selected credit and financial institutions that operate in at least six member states, with selection in 2027 and supervision from 2028.

Who it applies to

Who it applies to

Article 3 lists the obliged entities. Professional firms are covered when they act in their professional activities, and some only for certain transactions:

  • Auditors, external accountants and tax advisers, and anyone who provides material help or advice on tax matters as a principal business
  • Notaries, lawyers and other independent legal professionals who act in, or help plan, transactions such as buying and selling real property or business entities, managing client money or assets, or creating and running companies and trusts
  • Trust or company service providers
  • Estate agents and other real estate professionals acting as intermediaries, including lettings where the monthly rent is at least EUR 10,000
  • Credit and financial institutions, crypto-asset service providers, gambling providers, high-value goods traders and the other categories in Article 3
The obligations

What you have to do

The AMLR sets the CDD measures in Articles 19 to 26. AMLA's CDD standard will add detail on what to collect and how to verify it. Each duty is matched to the kind of work that meets it.

  1. Know when CDD applies

    Apply CDD when you start a business relationship, carry out an occasional transaction of EUR 10,000 or more, help create a legal entity or arrangement, or (for accountants, lawyers and TCSPs) act in a transfer of ownership of a legal entity at any value. Also apply it on suspicion or doubt about earlier data (Art 19).

    Set in your policies
  2. Collect identity and ownership data

    For a person: all names, place and full date of birth, nationalities and national ID number where applicable, and usual residence. For an entity: legal form, name, registered office, legal representatives and nominee details. Then identify the beneficial owners and understand the structure (Arts 20 and 22).

  3. Verify identity

    Verify with an identity document, passport or equivalent plus reliable independent sources where relevant, or with electronic identification meeting eIDAS 'substantial' or 'high' assurance (Art 22(6)). Verify beneficial owners by reasonable measures and by consulting the central registers (Art 22(7)).

  4. Check sanctions and PEP status

    Verify whether the customer or its beneficial owners are subject to targeted financial sanctions, including whether a sanctioned person controls or holds more than 50% of an entity. Determine whether the customer or beneficial owner is a PEP, family member or close associate (Art 20(1)(d) and (g)).

  5. Scale measures to risk

    Apply simplified measures only in low-risk situations and enhanced measures in higher-risk ones. AMLA's CDD standard sets the information needed at each level.

  6. Monitor and refresh

    Monitor the relationship and keep data current. Update at least every year for higher-risk customers and every five years for others, and sooner when circumstances change (Art 26).

Commonly misread

What firms get wrong

The package mixes a regulation, a directive and an authority, so it is easy to apply the wrong one.

We wait for our country to transpose the AMLR.

The AMLR is a regulation and applies directly from 10 July 2027 (Art 90). AMLD6 is the directive member states transpose, and it deals with supervisors, FIUs and registers.

AMLA will supervise our firm directly.

AMLA's direct supervision covers selected credit and financial institutions operating in at least six member states (AMLA Regulation Art 12). Professional firms stay with national supervisors.

AMLA's CDD standards are final.

AMLA submitted its final draft to the Commission on 1 October 2026. The Commission still has to adopt it, and AMLA proposes it apply six months after entry into force.

A register extract proves beneficial ownership.

Article 22(7) requires reasonable measures to obtain information from the customer or other reliable sources, with the extent set by risk. Consulting the central registers comes on top of that.

Key dates

What happens when

  1. In force

    AMLD6 Article 74 transposition deadline Source

  2. In force

    AMLA consultation on draft CDD standard closes (opened 9 Feb 2026) Source

  3. In force

    AMLD6 deadline for beneficial ownership register articles (Arts 11, 12, 13 and 15); AMLR deadline for AMLA's draft CDD standard Source

  4. Proposed

    AMLA submits final draft CDD standard to the European Commission Source

  5. Commencing

    AMLR applies; general AMLD6 transposition deadline Source

  6. During 2027Commencing

    AMLA selects entities for direct supervision Source

  7. From 2028Commencing

    AMLA direct supervision of selected entities begins Source

  8. Commencing

    AMLR applies to football agents and professional football clubs; AMLD6 Article 18 (real estate information access) deadline Source

  9. Not yet setProposed

    CDD standard applies, proposed six months after entry into force once adopted Source

    Not yet confirmed. We will update this when the date is set.

Also on the regulatory timeline.

Questions

Questions people ask

What is the AMLR?

The AMLR is Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, the EU's single rulebook on anti-money laundering for obliged entities. It covers customer due diligence, beneficial ownership, PEPs, reliance and record keeping, and it applies directly in every member state.

When does the AMLR apply?

From 10 July 2027. For football agents and professional football clubs it applies from 10 July 2029.

What is the difference between the AMLR and AMLD6?

The AMLR sets the rules firms follow and needs no national law. AMLD6 is a directive that member states transpose, covering supervisors, FIUs, beneficial ownership registers and access to real estate information.

What is AMLA?

The EU Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, based in Frankfurt. It drafts technical standards, coordinates national supervisors and will directly supervise selected financial institutions.

What changes for CDD under the AMLR?

The data to collect, the ways to verify and the refresh periods become the same across the EU: at most one year between updates for higher-risk customers and five years for others. Sanctions checks become an explicit CDD measure. See the AML customer due diligence checklist.

Does the AMLR apply to accountants and lawyers?

Yes. Auditors, external accountants and tax advisers are obliged entities, and notaries and lawyers are covered when they act in or help plan the transactions listed in Article 3, such as property sales or setting up companies and trusts.

Can we verify identity remotely under the AMLR?

Article 22(6) allows an identity document plus reliable independent sources, or eIDAS electronic identification at 'substantial' or 'high' assurance. AMLA's CDD standard covers non-face-to-face verification in more detail once adopted.

Where StackGo fits

Where StackGo fits

StackGo is compliance middleware. IdentityCheck can carry the identity document check, screening, intake and risk assessment steps of AMLR CDD. Whether it meets your national supervisor's expectations and AMLA's final standard is for your own policies to decide, and the AMLR does not require any particular product.

What IdentityCheck covers today
  • Biometric identity verification: a photo of a government ID document plus a live selfie with liveness, covering 12,500 document types from 230+ countries and territories.
  • PEP, sanctions and adverse media screening, with ongoing monitoring of screened clients.
  • Multi-entity intake forms that collect each person and entity on a structure, for beneficial ownership records.
  • Risk assessment forms with scoring and enhanced due diligence steps.
  • Two-way integrations with Xero Practice Manager, Xero, Karbon and HubSpot; Salesforce via Zapier. By default no personal details are written back, only a link to the result plus the outcome and status.
What it does not do
  • It does not accept EUDI Wallets or other eIDAS electronic identification today, which is one of the two verification routes in Article 22(6).
  • It does not query EU central beneficial ownership registers. Credit bureau ownership reports are an Australian add-on only.
  • It does not file reports with any FIU or supervisor, does no transaction monitoring and gives no legal advice.

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