The AML/CFT colleges framework is maturing, the EBA finds

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published its fifth and final Report on the Functioning of Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Colleges. The Report finds that colleges are effective tools to facilitate information exchange, which improved the effectiveness of AML/CFT supervision within the Union. The Report also finds that a key objective of the framework is yet to be fulfilled, i.e to address issues that affect several group entities in a coordinated manner.

This Report sets out findings and observations from the EBA staff’s monitoring of AML/CFT colleges, which suggest that, overall, competent authorities continued to use colleges to share relevant information that could enhance the effectiveness of supervision. The EBA nevertheless observed that limited progress was made by supervisors in implementing the two key priorities identified in the previous report on the functioning of AML/CFT colleges:

1. Applying the risk-based approach to the functioning of AML/CFT college meetings

   The EBA found that certain supervisors were not yet fully adjusting the functioning of colleges (means used to exchange information and frequency at which the information is exchanged) based on the level of ML/TF risk they presented. As a result, supervisors could not always allocate sufficient resources to the most strategic colleges.

2. Ensuring that discussions on the need for a common approach are meaningful and systematic.

   The EBA found that most colleges that were actively monitored by the Authority still made insufficient efforts to identify common ML/TF risks and AML/CFT issues. As a result, the competent authorities participating in these colleges were often unable to have meaningful discussions on the need for a common approach or joint action.

From 1 January 2026, the responsibility to monitor AML/CFT colleges will be transferred to AMLA. The findings from this report will be relevant for AMLA as it builds its supervisory framework.

Legal basis and background

• AML/CFT colleges are permanent structures that serve to enhance cooperation between different supervisors involved in the supervision of cross-border institutions.
• Directive (EU) 2018/843 (AMLD) introduced an explicit requirement for competent authorities to cooperate with each other but did not provide a framework of how this cooperation should happen in practice.
• The ESAs Guidelines (JC 2019 81) on cooperation and information exchange between competent authorities supervising credit and financial institutions published in December 2019 provide details on how competent authorities should give effect to the cooperation requirements set out in AMLD, by establishing a framework for AML/CFT colleges.