Anti-money laundering controls in Europe: same rules, less room for error
EU regulator AMLA draws the line: anti-money laundering controls to be enforced consistently across Europe
Until recently, an automotive company that did not take its KYC and anti-money laundering controls too seriously could receive a fine of a few thousand euros in one EU country and get away with a warning in another. Those days are over.
Uniform anti-money laundering policy across Europe
In July, the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) announced that, for the first time, there will be a harmonised approach to enforcing AML rules across the EU. Once the European Commission approves these standards, they will be directly binding in every Member State.
What does this mean in practice?
· Supervisory authorities will assess violations according to the same fixed criteria: duration, repetition, severity, number of affected customers and whether there is a structural problem with the controls.
· Violations will be divided into four severity categories. For the two most serious categories, a violation will automatically be considered "serious, repeated or systematic", with all the consequences that entails.
· The rules do not apply only to banks. The non-financial sector, which includes automotive companies as traders in high-value goods, is also explicitly covered.
· In addition to fines, supervisory authorities can also restrict or withdraw licences and impose penalty payments until a company has put its affairs in order.
· Directors and management can be held personally accountable if they were aware of a violation and failed to take action.
A distant concern?
For automotive companies that trade internationally, this is not a distant concern. Anyone who buys or sells vehicles across borders must be able to demonstrate that their business partner has been checked and that the file is complete, up to date and auditable. Going forward, it will no longer matter in which EU country this is assessed: the standard will be the same everywhere, and that standard is becoming higher.
Solution available
At Novatrade24, we developed Click2Comply to enable you to trade across borders without being held back by ‘compliance restrictions’. With one click, you can start the automated KYC and AML investigation and correctly and completely document each transaction based on a reliable KYC profile. With automated anti-money laundering risk detection and all required documents in one audit-ready file, you have 24/7 access to a compliant export file that meets the latest requirements. Digital, secure and fast.
Would you like to know whether your file meets the latest requirements? Contact Tom Hessing (+31 73 8200019).
Bron: AMLA, persbericht 8 juli 2026 (amla.europa.eu)