TITLE: European Anti-Money Laundering Authority Launches Consultations on Three Draft Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Implementing Standards
BODY:
On 17 February 2026, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) announced that the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) has launched public consultations on three draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) under the new European anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regulatory package established by Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 and Directive (EU) 2024/1640.
The consultations, which opened on 9 February 2026, cover customer due diligence measures, identification of business relationships and linked transactions, and pecuniary sanctions and administrative measures. The customer due diligence RTS specifies information that obliged entities must collect based on identified risks, sources for verifying identity, remote customer onboarding measures, and identification of politically exposed persons. The business relationships RTS establishes criteria for distinguishing between business relationships, occasional transactions and linked transactions—a distinction fundamental to determining when customer due diligence measures apply. The sanctions RTS defines indicators for assessing breach gravity, criteria for setting pecuniary sanctions, and methodology for imposing periodic penalty payments to ensure consistent assessment across Member States.
These standards apply to both financial and non-financial sector participants, with particular relevance to collective investment management companies, financial investment advisors, crowdfunding service providers and crypto-asset services providers.
The consultation period varies by RTS: the customer due diligence and business relationships consultations close on 8 May 2026, while the sanctions consultation closes on 9 March 2026. Public hearings for the customer due diligence and business relationships RTS are scheduled for 24 March 2026. AMLA must submit the final draft RTS to the European Commission by 10 July 2026.