Accountancy Europe has submitted feedback in response to the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority’s (AMLA) consultation on the draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on group-wide requirements and on branches and subsidiaries in third countries with legal impediments under Articles 16(4) and 17(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624.
In its submission, Accountancy Europe supports the objective of establishing clear and harmonised requirements for group-wide AML/CFT policies, procedures and controls. However, we highlight significant practical and legal concerns regarding the application of the proposed requirements to accountants, auditors and other non-financial professions operating through networks of legally separate and independent firms.
Accountancy Europe identifies several specific concerns in the submission, in particular:
The draft RTS does not provide sufficient clarity on when the provisions apply to structures that are not organised as traditional corporate groups. This creates uncertainty regarding their scope and interaction with existing legal, regulatory and governance frameworks. Accountancy Europe recommends clarifying that the existence of a structure should require legally enforceable governance integration relevant to AML/CFT and that coordination should be clearly distinguished from control.
The proposed information-sharing requirements raise practical, legal and data protection challenges, particularly for legally independent entities and in cross-border or third-country contexts. Accountancy Europe recommends greater clarity regarding the interaction with data protection, confidentiality and professional secrecy requirements.
The RTS may require networks, partnerships and similar structures to make material changes to their operating models solely to comply with the proposed requirements. Accountancy Europe considers that such changes could impose significant legal, operational and organisational burdens while the added AML/CFT value remains unclear. It therefore calls for a more proportionate approach that reflects the legal and operational realities of non-financial sectors.
Accountancy Europe considers that several provisions, particularly those relating to structures sharing common ownership, management or compliance control, are not sufficiently clear and may capture arrangements that lack the authority to implement and enforce group-equivalent AML/CFT obligations. It recommends further engagement with the accounting and audit sector and the provision of practical guidance and examples to support consistent and proportionate implementation.
