Frankfurt to House Europe's AMLA in 2025; EU Advances Crypto and AI Regulations
Summary:
The Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), approved by the European Council in 2022, will establish its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, and start operations in mid-2025. Tasked with overseeing high-risk and cross-border financial entities, including cryptocurrency firms, the AMLA will collaborate with financial intelligence units and regulators across Europe. The first comprehensive EU crypto framework, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) was enforced in 2023, while more specific rules are set to take effect in 2024. Concurrently, the EU is drafting artificial intelligence (AI) regulations, with the world's first AI-focused legislation, the European AI Act, approved on a preliminary basis in February.
The European Council has endorsed the founding of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) in 2022. The regulatory body's head office will be stationed in Frankfurt, Germany's financial hub, and its operations are slated to commence in the middle of 2025. The AMLA is tasked with the supervision of financial entities perceived as high-risk and conducting cross-border operations, including cryptocurrency companies. The financial intelligence units and regulators of various European countries will collaborate with the agency in its regulatory activities.
The European Council disclosed on February 22nd, the city where the regulatory body will be situated. Given that Frankfurt is also home to the European Central Bank, its selection seems logical. Other potential locations considered were Brussels, Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Riga, Vilnius, and Vienna. Rooting an almost 400-strong workforce, the AMLA is set to roll out operations in mid-2025. Its main board will consist of representatives from supervisory bodies and financial intelligence units of every EU member state. The executive board, the ruling body, will comprise the chair and five full-time independent members.
As part of related news, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), the first comprehensive EU crypto framework was enforced in June 2023. However, the rules that govern "asset-referenced tokens" and "e-money tokens" — majorly composed of stablecoins — are likely to be implemented in June 2024. Rules for "crypto-asset service providers," umbrella term for trading platforms, wallet providers, and crypto exchange services, are projected to come in enforcement in December 2024.
In the meantime, the EU is meticulously developing regulations for artificial intelligence (AI) usage. On February 13th, the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Civil Liberties Committees sanctioned the initial agreement on the European AI Act, marking it as the premier AI-centric legislation globally. The AI Act's objective is to set in place protection measures, such as copyright protection for creators in response to generative AI models, and to outlaw AI applications that could infringe on citizens' rights, like biometric classification and social scoring. The first parliamentary scrutiny of the AI Act is scheduled for April 2024. Prominent entrepreneur Vance Spencer, a "permabull," declares "Crypto is inevitable,", thus decisively investing in it.
Published At
2/23/2024 12:21:03 PM
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