Summary
TLDR: The European Parliament and Council agreed to establish a new Anti-Money Laundering Authority in Frankfurt in 2025 to supervise crypto firms and financial services providers. The agency will have 400 staff and require due diligence from credit institutions and crypto exchanges. Some in the crypto community criticized the decision, while the EU also finalized regulations for cryptocurrencies under the Markets-in-Crypto-Assets bill. French banking giant Societe Generale launched a euro-denominated stablecoin, indicating growing interest in tokenized euro assets.
Key Points
1. The European Parliament and the European Council have agreed to establish a new Anti-Money Laundering Authority in Frankfurt in response to a 2023 EU decision to supervise crypto firms and financial services providers operating internationally.
2. The new anti-money laundering watchdog in the EU will have 400 staff members when it launches in Germany next year, with nine countries vying to host the agency. Credit and financial institutions, as well as crypto asset service providers, will be required to conduct customer due diligence to combat money laundering.
3. The announcement of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority was met with criticism from the crypto community, with concerns raised about the EU’s own involvement in money laundering. Additionally, the EU’s Markets-in-Crypto-Assets bill, finalized in April 2023, aims to regulate cryptocurrencies and address issues such as new token issuances, anti-money laundering regulations, and stablecoin rules.