The seat for the new European Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AMLA), supported by Madrid, will be announced between Thursday night and Friday morning after a vote that involves members of the Council and, for the first time, the European Parliament as well. This decision marks a milestone in European fiscal oversight and governance as officials from major EU institutions come together to decide where AMLA’s headquarters will operate from, signaling a broader shift in how the bloc tackles illicit finance.
Madrid, which has proposed housing the new office in the Crystal Tower in the financial district, competes with eight other European capitals: Rome, Vienna, Vilnius, Riga, Frankfurt, Dublin, Paris, and Brussels. The aim is to place AMLA where it can most effectively supervise the new EU framework designed to curb dirty money flows and oversee high-risk financial entities operating across at least six member states. This framework seeks to strengthen cross-border cooperation and risk monitoring across the Union. The process is expected to unfold in several rounds, with votes accumulating toward a majority, typically requiring at least 28 votes if 54 valid ballots are counted, according to EU officials (EU sources).
During the vote, no city is automatically eliminated in any round; all cities remain candidates until the final result, ensuring ongoing competition and scrutiny (EU officials cited by European Press). The Council and the European Parliament will each cast 27 ballots for their preferred candidate. The Council allocates one vote per member state, while the European Parliament distributes its votes among political groups according to their relative size.
In this framework, the European People’s Party would hold eight votes; the Socialists and Democrats would hold six; the Renew group would have four; the Greens three; the Conservative and Reformists and Identity and Democracy groups would hold three and two votes respectively; and the Left would have one vote. Voters may abstain or choose not to support any candidate, and results will be announced vote-by-vote as ballots are tallied (EU sources).
AMLA’s Mission
AMLA stands at the center of a comprehensive package aimed at stopping money laundering and terrorist financing. Its task will be to oversee the new EU regulation on flows of illicit money and to supervise high-risk financial institutions operating across multiple member states. The agency will also wield substantial powers to intervene if supervisory failures occur and to undertake enforcement actions when needed (EU policy documents and statements).
Beyond supervision, AMLA will coordinate actions among financial supervisors across different EU countries and aim for the convergence of supervisory practices. Based on a Parliament-proposed framework, AMLA will also mediate and resolve disputes between national authorities, strengthening a unified approach to financial integrity across the Union.
Additionally, AMLA will support financial intelligence units in analyzing suspicious transactions and identifying cases of money laundering. It will assist in joint analyses and the management of the information-sharing system used by the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF). The organization will play a central role in facilitating cross-border information exchange and ensuring timely, accurate responses to emerging threats (EU governance documents).