Claudia Buch, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank, called for deeper cooperation between ECB Banking Supervision and the newly established European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), highlighting the need for a more coherent and less fragmented system to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing risks across the EU.
Speaking in Frankfurt at a European University Institute workshop, Buch stressed that rising geopolitical tensions and rapid digitalisation have increased banks’ exposure to money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks. While the ECB does not directly supervise AML/CFT compliance, such risks are highly relevant for prudential supervision, as failures can translate into credit, operational, legal and reputational risks — and in severe cases threaten a bank’s viability.
She underlined that AMLA, which will assume direct supervisory responsibilities for higher-risk institutions from 2028, will play a central role in ensuring consistent AML/CFT supervision across the EU. By reducing national fragmentation and limiting regulatory arbitrage, AMLA is expected to strengthen the overall resilience of the European financial system, similar to the role of the Single Supervisory Mechanism in banking supervision.
Buch noted that cooperation between prudential supervisors and AML/CFT authorities has already intensified in recent years, supported by information-sharing frameworks and a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the ECB and AMLA in June 2025. Effective coordination, she said, must go beyond formal agreements and ensure streamlined processes, early information exchange and avoidance of overlapping supervisory requests.
Digitalisation and the growth of crypto-assets pose additional challenges. Crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), in particular, face elevated ML/TF risks due to cross-border activities and transaction anonymity. As banks become increasingly interconnected with such firms, weaknesses in AML/CFT controls could spill over into prudential risks, making supervisory convergence across the EU even more critical.
Buch also pointed to the ECB’s broader supervisory reform agenda, aimed at making European banking supervision more risk-based, proportionate and efficient through sharper prioritisation and greater use of digital tools.
Concluding, she emphasised that AML/CFT risks often reveal deeper governance and risk management shortcomings within banks. AMLA’s establishment marks a significant shift towards more harmonised supervision in Europe, and effective day-to-day cooperation with the ECB will be essential to ensure a more resilient and consistent supervisory framework across the Union.
