New Employee Reliability Requirements under Art. 13 AMLR
With the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR), the European Union fundamentally strengthens the role of human factors in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT). Integrity, competence, and independence of employees are no longer treated as soft governance principles, but as hard, enforceable regulatory obligations.
Article 13 AMLR – Integrity of employees introduces a harmonised EU-wide standard requiring obliged entities to assess, monitor, and protect the integrity of all persons directly involved in AML/CFT compliance.
This article explains what “integrity of employees” means under the AMLR, who is affected, and what institutions must implement in practice.
Article 13 AMLR
Article 13 AMLR applies to all employees and persons in comparable positions, including agents and distributors, who directly participate in compliance with:
- the AML Regulation (AMLR),
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 (Transfer of Funds Regulation, TFR),
- and any AML/CFT-related administrative acts issued by supervisors.
The rule applies to virtually all multi-person obliged entities across the EU financial and non-financial sectors.
Only sole operators (natural persons or legal persons operated by one individual only) are exempt.
Mandatory fitness and integrity assessment
Risk-based assessment of AML/CFT staff
Obliged entities must ensure that AML/CFT-relevant staff undergo an assessment commensurate with the risks associated with their tasks. This assessment must be approved in content by the compliance officer, which creates a clear governance anchor.
The assessment must cover two mandatory dimensions:
Professional fitness
- Skills
- Knowledge
- Expertise
necessary to carry out AML/CFT functions effectively.
Personal integrity
- Good repute
- Honesty
- Integrity
Both elements are cumulative. Technical competence alone does not satisfy AMLR requirements.
Timing and repetition of assessments
Article 13 AMLR establishes a lifecycle obligation:
- Initial assessment: before the person takes up AML/CFT-relevant activities.
- Ongoing reassessments: performed regularly.
- Intensity and frequency: determined by the risk associated with the function performed.
Senior, sensitive, or decision-making AML roles require deeper and more frequent reassessment than operational or support roles.
Conflict of interest: disclosure and mandatory exclusion
Duty to disclose relationships
Employees and agents involved in AML/CFT compliance must inform the compliance officer of any close private or professional relationship with:
- existing customers, or
- prospective customers.
This duty is continuous and proactive.
Mandatory segregation from AML/CFT tasks
Where such a relationship exists, the AMLR requires that the person:
must be prevented from undertaking AML/CFT compliance tasks in relation to those customers.
This is not a risk-mitigation option. It is a mandatory exclusion rule. Chinese walls, dual controls, or ex-post reviews are insufficient substitutes.
Organisational obligation to manage conflicts of interest
Beyond individual disclosure, Article 13(3) AMLR requires obliged entities to maintain formal procedures to:
- prevent conflicts of interest,
- identify conflicts of interest,
- manage conflicts of interest affecting AML/CFT tasks.
This implies:
- documented conflict typologies,
- escalation rules to compliance,
- role-segregation logic,
- audit-proof documentation.
Governance, audit, and supervisory implications
From HR topic to AML/CFT control
Under the AMLR, employee integrity becomes a core AML/CFT control element, comparable in importance to risk assessments, transaction monitoring, or customer due diligence.
Supervisors and auditors will assess:
- whether AML staff were assessed before appointment,
- whether assessments are role- and risk-based,
- whether reassessments are performed and documented,
- whether conflicts of interest are detected and effectively neutralised,
- whether the compliance officer exercises real oversight.
Control failure risk
An AML framework can be deemed ineffective even if:
- policies exist,
- systems are robust,
- risk models are sophisticated,
if AML-relevant staff lack integrity, independence, or adequate qualification.
Key takeaway
Article 13 AMLR makes one principle explicit:
AML/CFT compliance is only as reliable as the integrity and independence of the people executing it.
Institutions must now treat employee integrity as:
- a regulated control requirement,
- a documented and auditable process,
- and a supervisory review focal point.
Early implementation is critical, as integrity assessments, conflict-of-interest frameworks, and reassessment cycles cannot be built retroactively once supervisory scrutiny begins.