The new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) of the European Union (EU) will have its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, which is known as the financial hub of the country. The AMLA will commence its operations by the middle of 2025.
The authority will have the power to oversee financial entities that are considered high-risk and operate across borders, including crypto firms. It will coordinate its supervisory activities with financial intelligence units and regulators in other EU member states.
In a press release on February 22, the Council of the EU and the European Council announced that Frankfurt had been chosen as the city for the AMLA’s headquarters. The European Central Bank is also situated in Frankfurt. The shortlist of alternative locations included Brussels, Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Riga, Vilnius, and Vienna.
The general board of the AMLA will consist of representatives from regulators and financial intelligence units of all EU member states. The executive board, which is the governing body, will include the chairperson and five independent full-time members.
In related news, the CEO of VanEck Europe, a financial firm, revealed that despite the growing popularity of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the EU remains cautious about crypto investments.
The EU introduced its first comprehensive framework for cryptocurrencies, called the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), in June 2023. However, the rules governing asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, which mainly fall under the category of stablecoins, are expected to come into effect in June 2024. The regulations for crypto-asset service providers, such as trading platforms, wallet providers, and cryptocurrency exchanges, will be implemented in December 2024.
Additionally, the EU has been actively developing regulations regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI). On February 13, the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Civil Liberties Committees approved the preliminary agreement on the European AI Act, which is the world’s first legislation focused on AI. The EU AI Act aims to establish safeguards, including copyright protection for creators, in response to generative AI models. It also prohibits AI applications that threaten citizens’ rights, such as biometric categorization and social scoring. The first parliamentary vote on the AI Act is scheduled for April 2024.
In an interview, Vance Spencer, a permabull and believer in the future of cryptocurrency, expressed his confidence in the inevitability of crypto. He shared his decision to fully invest in the crypto market, highlighting his optimism about its potential.