New Reporting Obligations under Chapter V AMLR

Chapter V of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR) establishes a directly applicable EU reporting regime built around four core rules:

(i) prompt reporting of suspicions to the FIU,

(ii) refraining from executing suspicious transactions,

(iii) a safe-harbour for disclosures made in good faith, and

(iv) a prohibition of disclosure (anti–tipping-off) with narrowly defined exceptions.

Trigger Money Laundering: the “proceeds” anchor through “property derived from criminal activity”

AMLR defines “money laundering” by reference to Directive (EU) 2018/1673, Article 3(1) and (5). Under that Directive, money laundering offences include (among others) the conversion/transfer, concealment/disguise, and acquisition/possession/use of property knowing that such property is derived from criminal activity, and also explicitly cover “self-laundering” (where the launderer is involved in the predicate criminal activity).

AMLR defines “terrorist financing” by reference to Directive (EU) 2017/541, Article 11. Article 11 criminalises providing or collecting funds (directly or indirectly) with the intention/knowledge that they will be used, in full or part, to commit or contribute to the commission of terrorist offences.

Criminal activity – the predicate perimeter

AMLR defines “criminal activity” as:

(i) “criminal activity” within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2018/1673, Article 2(1), plus

(ii) “fraud affecting the Union’s financial interests” as defined in Directive (EU) 2017/1371, Article 3(2), plus

(iii) passive and active corruption and misappropriation as defined in Directive (EU) 2017/1371, Article 4(2) and Article 4(3), second subparagraph.

STR/SAR duty and FIU response deadlines

What must be reported and to whom?

Obliged entities (and where applicable directors and employees) must cooperate fully with the FIU by promptly:

Reporting on their own initiative where the obliged entity knows/suspects/has reasonable grounds to suspect that funds or activities are proceeds of criminal activity or related to terrorist financing or criminal activity; and by responding to FIU requests for additional information in such cases.

Providing, at the FIU’s request, all necessary information, including transaction records, within the imposed deadlines.

The reporting obligation expressly includes:

(i) suspicious transactions,

(ii) attempted transactions, and

(iii) suspicions arising from the inability to conduct customer due diligence.

FIU information-response

For FIU requests for information, obliged entities must reply within 5 working days; in justified and urgent cases, FIUs may shorten the deadline, including to less than 24 hours.

Conversely, the FIU may extend the deadline beyond 5 working days where justified, provided the extension does not undermine the FIU’s analysis.

How is the suspicion assessment framed?

Article 69(2) AMLR requires the assessment of customer transactions/activities against relevant facts and information known to the obliged entity, with prioritisation where necessary based on urgency and Member-State risks.

The provision then lists the factors on which a suspicion “shall be based”, including customer/counterpart characteristics, size/nature, methods/patterns, links between transactions/activities, origin/destination/use of funds, and consistency with Chapter III information (including the client risk profile).

AMLA ITS and guidelines

AMLA must develop draft implementing technical standards by 10 July 2026 specifying the format for reporting suspicions and for providing transaction records.

AMLA must also issue guidelines on indicators of suspicious activity or behaviours by 10 July 2027 (to be periodically updated).

“Refrain” as the default and the 3-working-day rule

Obliged entities must refrain from carrying out transactions they know or suspect to be related to proceeds of criminal activity or to terrorist financing until they have submitted an Article 69(1)(a) AMLR report and complied with any further FIU/competent-authority instructions under applicable law.

They may carry out the transaction after assessing the risks of proceeding if they have not received contrary instructions from the FIU within 3 working days of submitting the report.

If it is not possible to refrain, or refraining would likely frustrate efforts to pursue beneficiaries, the obliged entity must inform the FIU immediately after carrying out the transaction.

Safe-harbour for FIU disclosures made in good faith

Disclosure to the FIU in good faith under Articles 69 AMLR:

does not constitute a breach of contractual or legal restrictions on disclosure; and
does not involve the obliged entity (or its directors/employees) in liability of any kind—even if they were not precisely aware of the underlying criminal activity and regardless of whether illegal activity actually occurred.

Tipping-off prohibition with “carve-outs”

What must not be disclosed?

Obliged entities and relevant persons (including agents and distributors) must not disclose to the customer or other third persons: that transactions/activities are being or have been assessed under Article 69; that information is/will be/has been transmitted under Articles 69 or 70; or that a money laundering or terrorist financing analysis is being or may be carried out.

Core exceptions and permitted intra-sector disclosures

Article 73 AMLR provides multiple, textually defined exceptions, including disclosures to competent authorities and self-regulatory bodies with supervisory functions, and disclosures for investigation/prosecution purposes.

It also allows, by derogation, certain disclosures:

within the same group (including branches/subsidiaries in third countries) subject to Article 16 group-wide compliance;
within specified professional structures (for certain obliged entities) sharing ownership/management/compliance control;
between obliged entities involved in the same transaction (for specified sectors), subject to location/equivalence and professional secrecy and personal-data-protection requirements.

Finally, for certain obliged entities, attempting to dissuade a client from engaging in illegal activity is expressly stated not to constitute disclosure within the meaning of Article 73(1) AMLR.

What “new” means in operational terms?

Broad trigger: report suspicions relating to funds or activities that are proceeds of criminal activity or related to terrorist financing or criminal activity (as defined via Article 2 AMLR cross-references).
Mandatory coverage: includes attempted transactions and CDD-failure-generated suspicions.
Hard deadlines: FIU information response within 5 working days, with a statutory urgent lane (<24h) and a controlled extension mechanism; and a 3-working-day “no contrary instructions” execution rule after reporting.
Legal protection + strict confidentiality: safe-harbour for good-faith FIU disclosures, paired with a strict anti–tipping-off regime and enumerated derogations.