Frankfurt wins vote to host new EU anti-money laundering agency

DPA
·2 min read
Christian Lindner, Germany's Finance Minister, speaks at the Political Ash Wednesday of the FDP Brandenburg. Fabian Sommer/dpa
Christian Lindner, Germany's Finance Minister, speaks at the Political Ash Wednesday of the FDP Brandenburg. Fabian Sommer/dpa

The new EU anti-money laundering agency (AMLA) is to be in Frankfurt, representatives from the EU member states and the European Parliament agreed on Thursday in Brussels.

Frankfurt beat competition from Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Dublin, Riga, Vilnius, Vienna and Rome to host the new EU agency.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner pushed hard for Frankfurt to host the agency. He told a public hearing in the parliament in January that in Frankfurt, the agency would everything it needs to be operational from day one.

The European Commission first proposed establishing the agency back in 2021 to crack down on money laundering and terrorist financing in the European Union.

The agency is to coordinate and support the work of national agencies with the main purpose of the new authority to boost cross-boder cooperation.

The agency is to have a board made up of officials from financial authorities from every EU member state as well as an executive board with the chair of AMLA and five independent full-time members.

AMLA will supervise banks and other financial institutions including crypto currency companies. Powers are in place to ensure EU sanctions are enforced.

In 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the parliament had a role in the process which resulted in 27 EU countries and 27 EU legislators voting on the decision.

Several rounds of voting took place on Thursday with only a simple majority of 28 votes needed to win. For the first time public hearings were part of the process to host an EU agency.

Hesse state Premier Boris Rhein was pleased. "It is an honour for our state of Hesse to be able to host the AMLA," he said.

Frankfurt Mayor Mike Josef welcomed the EU decision to locate the new anti-money laundering authority in Frankfurt as "correct and consistent."

The city offers "ideal conditions" for this in terms of culture and infrastructure, Josef said on Thursday evening in Frankfurt.

In addition, the city was already home to important financial supervision institutions, he added. Therefore, the decision made sense.

The city of Frankfurt said the establishment of the new EU anti-money laundering agency would create at least 400 new jobs.

EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis congratulated the city of Frankfurt.

"Congratulations to Frankfurt as the seat for new Anti-Money Laundering Authority #AMLA," he wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

"AMLA will be a game-changer in our fight against dirty money, boosting supervision of anti-money laundering & counter financing of terrorism in all EU countries," Dombrovskis added.