The conference, hosted by the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, brought together policymakers, industry leaders and regulatory figures to discuss the future of European financial integration. Szego's session addressed AMLA's role in strengthening Europe's defences against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Chair outlined five pillars guiding AMLA's long-term vision: ambition in ensuring a robust and uniform AML system across Europe, cooperation with national authorities, FIUs, law enforcement and the private sector, technological responsiveness, accountability and transparency, and global leadership. She noted that AMLA's ultimate goal is to increase the costs for the criminal economy and reduce the convenience of committing serious crimes such as human trafficking, drug trade and terrorism.
On harmonisation, Szego explained that AMLA has extensive regulatory powers and will be responsible for developing over 40 Level 2 and Level 3 measures to complete the Single Rulebook. She stressed that convergence means not only having the same rules, but ensuring they are understood and applied consistently across all Member States. For FIUs, this includes effective information exchange, common standards for suspicious transaction reports, and more consistent feedback to obliged entities. For supervision, it covers harmonised risk assessment methodologies, supervisory planning and resource allocation.
Addressing technology, the Chair highlighted three dimensions: how technology is transforming the financial industry and AML processes, how criminals are increasingly using crypto services and digital tools, and how authorities themselves must evolve. She noted that while crypto assets covered by the MiCA Regulation will be subject to the full range of AML obligations, decentralised finance remains outside the current scope.
Szego acknowledged that AMLA is still in the early stages of building its IT infrastructure, but expressed ambition for AMLA to become a technological frontrunner that could provide cutting-edge tools to national authorities across the EU.