The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA – ESAs) published a joint Report, which provides a comprehensive analysis of the completeness, adequacy, and uniformity of the applicable laws and practices on the withdrawal of license for serious breaches of the rules on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).

The joint Report advocates for the introduction of all relevant EU sectoral laws of a specific legal ground to revoke licenses for serious breaches of AML/CFT rules. The joint Report also calls for the inclusion of assessments by competent authorities of the adequacy of the arrangements and processes to ensure AML/CFT compliance as one condition for granting authorization or registration. For this purpose, cooperation and information exchange between prudential supervisors and AML/CFT supervisors should be ensured.

The joint Report highlights the importance of the appropriate integration of AML/CFT issues into prudential regulation and supervision, including in the proposal for the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), currently under negotiation.

Furthermore, the joint Report clarifies the nature of the decision to revoke licenses as a last resort measure, subject to a discretionary and proportionality assessment. It also lays down uniform criteria for the notion of a serious breach of AML/CFT rules, highlighting that the identification of a serious breach is subject to a case-by-case assessment by the AML/CFT supervisor.

Finally, the joint Report provides a preliminary analysis of the interaction between serious breaches of AML/CFT rules and the crisis management and resolution frameworks as well as the first mapping of operational and legislative criticalities.

Next steps

The ESAs stand ready to provide additional specific advice to the EU institutions, as appropriate.