Thank you, good evening everyone and thanks for staying with us. I'm sure you're glad we weren't later.
But it is good news that we have an agreement on the seat of the new Anti-Money Laundering Authority.
And my congratulations to Frankfurt, but also to those who allowed this process happen, the Council and the European Parliament, of course in particular given the Court decision.
So we had a process, we had very strong hearings in public, in the Parliament.
And I think tonight we celebrate and mark the significance of that, but also the start of another journey in relation to tackling money laundering and terrorism financing.
And I think in the morning we have a task force ready to go to set up the framework to allow AMLA begin its job, as has been outlined by the Council.
Because we want and need to have trust in the financial system.
We also want to root out the illegal activities that fund money laundering and allow it to prevail, crimes against society, families, children and women.
So this is an important step for the European Union.
And I do want to register some points around how significant it is.
First of all the institutional revolution – a new Authority, based in Frankfurt.
But it will have two main areas of work.
Supervision: because the Authority will be at the very heart of our system of supervision.
It will help our national supervisory authorities support each other and work together.
And we will have more consistent supervision across the European Union.
The Authority will also undertake some direct supervision itself – of the highest-risk financial sector entities that operate across Member States.
And it will be able to take over the supervision of any entity where circumstances require.
The second point is that the Authority will work closely with the Financial Intelligence Units of the Member States.
And that includes enabling cooperation, exchange of information, joint analyses of suspicious transactions.
Alongside institutional change, we also have regulatory changes.
Really important that we will now have a single set of rules applicable to the private sector across the single market.
So no matter where companies are located across the Union, they will be subject to the same rules.
Now, that does not mean a one-size-fits-all, but rather a risk-based approach.
And this consistency will be reinforced by our institutional changes.
Supervisors and FIUs will work more closely together, facilitated by the new Authority, and implement rules consistently in the single market.
So this is a really broad set of reforms.
New categories of companies will be covered by the rules, such as football clubs, and I think this was something very important for Parliament.
We're mitigating risks linked to large sums of money, with an EU-wide limit of €10,000 for cash payments.
At the same time, we're addressing risks posed by crypto and the anonymity it enables.
And there will be a new system to access beneficial ownership registers, which responds to the Court of Justice's ruling, while maintaining access for civil society and journalists, which of course has been essential to uncover cases of money laundering.
All of these rules will also be able to adapt to risks as they evolve.
We've had so many wake-up calls in recent years when it comes to dirty money being washed through the mainstream of the financial system.
So tonight, we're answering those calls and we're taking action.
The Commission is committed to that action, to implement our agreement.
I know Parliament and Member States are equally committed.
I'm also counting on the support of the financial sector, Financial Intelligence Units and national supervisors.
As I say, the Commission will now accelerate the work on setting up the Authority.
We shall start this already, hiring staff. And we're confident that the Authority will be operational – if not fully, then significantly – in 2025.
And lastly, I want to join in the appreciation of the many presidencies who have helped us get to this stage – the Swedish, the Spanish, and now our Belgian hosts this evening.
In particular to the rapporteurs who are here, the shadow rapporteurs, and the teams.
And a shout-out, if I may, for the chair of the ECON committee, Irene Tinagli, who has won widespread applause, and rightly so, for her handling of these negotiations.
It's been a privilege for me to see this package proposed, and now we have an agreement.
And I hope that in time we will look back and see the significance of putting our house in order by putting in place really strong rules, a new Authority.
And now we just have to implement.
