The EU AMLR Compliance Timeline: Key Dates From 2024 to 2029
Every EU AMLR and AMLA date from 2024 to 2029 in one table: when the AMLR applies, when AMLA supervises, which dates can slip, and what SMEs should do.
The EU's Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR) applies from 10 July 2027. Football agents and professional football clubs follow on 10 July 2029. The new EU authority, AMLA, starts directly supervising a small group of financial firms during 2028. Every other key date in the EU's anti-money laundering package is in the table below.
The AMLR is Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, the single EU rulebook for anti-money laundering checks. AMLA is the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, based in Frankfurt. Our guide to the EU AMLR and AMLA explains both in plain terms.
This timeline is current as of 21 October 2026. Every date was read from the legal texts or from AMLA's own published documents.
What are the key dates of the EU AMLR?
The package was published on 19 June 2024. The AMLR applies from 10 July 2027, when the current directive is repealed. AMLA's direct supervision begins during 2028. The last dates in the text fall on 10 July 2029. The table lists every milestone, who it affects, and what a small business should have done by then.
| Date | What happens | Who it affects | What an SME should have done by then |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 June 2024 | AML package published in the Official Journal [European Commission] | Everyone: the clock starts | Nothing yet |
| 26 June 2024 | AMLA exists in law [AMLA Reg. Art. 108] | AMLA | Nothing yet |
| 1 July 2025 | Main body of the AMLA Regulation applies; AMLA starts operating in summer 2025 [AMLA Reg. Art. 108; AMLA] | AMLA, national supervisors | Nothing yet |
| 10 July 2025 | Member states must give access to beneficial ownership registers under the new rules [AMLD6 Arts. 74, 78] | Member states, obliged entities using registers | Nothing yet |
| 10 July 2026 | Member states must apply the new register rules [AMLD6 Arts. 11–13, 15, 78]. AMLA's deadline for its draft standards on customer due diligence and transaction thresholds [AMLR Arts. 19(9), 28] | Member states, AMLA | Read the AMLR and check whether you are in scope |
| 30 September 2026 | AMLA publishes final draft standards on customer due diligence and on transaction thresholds. No extra lower thresholds set [AMLA] | Every obliged entity, once adopted | Know whether you are in scope |
| By 1 July 2027 | AMLA starts selecting firms for direct supervision. Selection must finish within 6 months [AMLA Reg. Art. 13(4)] | Large cross-border banks and financial firms | Have a written risk assessment and a named compliance officer |
| 10 July 2027 | AMLR applies. Directive 2015/849 repealed. Main AMLD6 deadline [AMLR Art. 90; AMLD6 Arts. 77, 78] | Every obliged entity | Customer checks running, including sanctions and PEP screening |
| During 2028 | AMLA's direct supervision starts, 6 months after it publishes the list [AMLA Reg. Art. 13(4); AMLA] | Selected financial institutions only | Ongoing monitoring running and documented |
| 10 July 2029 | AMLR applies to football agents and professional football clubs [AMLR Art. 90] | Football sector | Football: same steps as above |
| 10 July 2029 | Commission must assess whether higher-risk sectors need a beneficial ownership threshold below 25% [AMLR Art. 52(2)] | Possibly everyone | Watch for a change to the 25% rule |
| 10 July 2029 | Member states must set up a single access point for real-estate information [AMLD6 Arts. 18, 78] | Member states | Nothing new |
Is 10 July 2027 a hard deadline?
Yes. The date is written into Article 90 of the AMLR, so only new EU legislation could move it. We found no published proposal to postpone it as of 21 October 2026. From that day the AMLR applies directly in every member state. No national law is needed to bring it into force.
Article 90 sets a later date for football agents and clubs only. There is no later start for small businesses or any other sector. A business in scope must apply the AMLR's duties from 10 July 2027, including customer due diligence on new customers.
Which dates are fixed, and which can slip?
Dates written into a regulation or directive are fixed. Dates that depend on AMLA's own work, such as when a standard or guideline appears, can move. The two kinds carry different risk for planning, so treat them differently.
| Kind of date | Examples | How likely to move |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed in law | AMLR applies (10 July 2027); football (10 July 2029); AMLD6 deadlines; AMLA's selection start (by 1 July 2027) | Only by new legislation |
| Legal deadline for AMLA to act | Draft standards due 10 July 2026 [AMLR Arts. 19(9), 28] | Can slip; the work is done later |
| AMLA's own plan | 40 firms selected during 2027; staff of about 430 by end of 2027; direct supervision during 2028 [AMLA] | Most likely to move |
The 2026 standards show how this works. The AMLR asked AMLA to submit draft standards on customer due diligence and transaction thresholds by 10 July 2026. AMLA's final reports on both are dated 30 September 2026 [AMLA]. They still need adoption by the European Commission and publication in the Official Journal before they bind anyone.
A late standard does not move the AMLR's own date. If a standard is not in force on 10 July 2027, the AMLR still applies. You apply its text directly, with less detailed guidance.
Where do AMLA's standards stand as of October 2026?
AMLA has published final draft standards on customer due diligence and transaction thresholds, and has consulted on guidelines for risk assessments and ongoing monitoring. None of these is in force yet. The table shows the items that most affect a small business, as listed on AMLA's regulatory instruments page, last updated 7 October 2026.
| Instrument | Legal basis | Status on 7 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Standards on customer due diligence | AMLR Art. 28(1) | Final report published 30 September 2026; goes to the Commission for adoption |
| Standards on business relationships, occasional transactions and lower thresholds | AMLR Art. 19(9) | Final report published 30 September 2026; no extra lower thresholds |
| Guidelines on business-wide risk assessment | AMLR Art. 10(4) | Consultation closed; final version not yet published |
| Guidelines on ongoing monitoring | AMLR Art. 26(5) | Consultation closed; final version not yet published |
| Standards on the format for reporting suspicions | AMLR Art. 69(3) | Consultation closed; final version not yet published |
The threshold decision matters for small firms. AMLA could have required customer checks below €10,000 for higher-risk sectors. It chose not to, because it "did not identify additional higher risks that justify such thresholds at this point in time" [AMLA RTS Art. 19(9) final report]. The thresholds in the AMLR itself stay as they are.
What should an SME do between now and July 2027?
Under nine months remain. Confirm your scope first, then build the three basics in order: risk assessment, responsible people, customer checks. Each step depends on the one before it. A firm that starts in spring 2027 will be rushing the last and hardest step.
- By end of 2026: confirm whether you are in scope. Our checklist for newly obliged businesses takes about two minutes.
- By early 2027: write your business-wide risk assessment [AMLR Art. 10]. Include sanctions-evasion risk, not only money laundering.
- By early 2027: name your compliance manager and compliance officer [AMLR Art. 11]. In a small firm, one person can do both [AMLR Art. 11(7)].
- By spring 2027: set up customer due diligence [AMLR Art. 20]. That includes checking customers and beneficial owners against sanctions lists and for politically exposed persons. Plan how you will bring existing customers up to the same standard. Our guide to how sanctions screening works covers the process.
- Before 10 July 2027: decide how often you re-check customers, and write down why [AMLR Art. 26].
Frequently asked questions
Is 10 July 2027 a hard deadline? Yes. It is fixed in Article 90 of the AMLR. Only new EU legislation could change it, and we found no proposal to do so as of 21 October 2026.
Can the date slip? The AMLR's own date cannot slip without new legislation. AMLA's standards and guidelines can arrive late, and some already have. A late standard does not delay the AMLR.
What happens between now and 2027? AMLA finishes its standards and guidelines and sends them to the European Commission for adoption. Member states finish writing AMLD6 into national law. AMLA starts selecting firms for direct supervision by 1 July 2027.
When does AMLA start supervising firms? During 2028, six months after it publishes the list of selected firms. Only credit and financial institutions can be selected. Most will be high-risk groups operating in at least six member states [AMLA Reg. Arts. 12, 13]. Every other business stays with its national supervisor.
Does anything change after 2029? AMLA repeats its selection every three years [AMLA Reg. Art. 13(4)]. By 10 July 2029 the Commission must also report on whether the 25% beneficial ownership threshold should be lower for higher-risk sectors.
Citations
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR), Articles 10, 11, 19, 20, 26, 28, 52 and 90, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1624/oj/eng
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1620 (AMLA Regulation), Articles 12, 13 and 108, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1620/oj/eng
- Directive (EU) 2024/1640 (AMLD6), Articles 11–13, 15, 18, 74, 77 and 78, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1640/oj/eng
- AMLA, About AMLA (start of operations, selection and direct supervision timing), https://www.amla.europa.eu/about-amla_en
- AMLA, Regulatory instruments (status of standards and guidelines, last updated 7 October 2026), https://www.amla.europa.eu/policy/regulatory-instruments_en
- AMLA, Final Reports: Draft RTS under Articles 19(9) and 28(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, both dated 30 September 2026, https://www.amla.europa.eu/policy/regulatory-instruments_en
- European Commission, Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism at EU level (package publication date), https://finance.ec.europa.eu/financial-crime/anti-money-laundering-and-countering-financing-terrorism-eu-level_en
Getting the screening part ready in time
Of the steps above, customer checks take the longest to get right, because they touch every customer you already have. Sanctions lists also change often, and the AMLR expects you to keep re-checking.
DeRisk Hub screens customers and beneficial owners against sanctions, export-control and PEP list sources. It re-screens the entities you monitor as lists update, and it records every decision in an audit trail you can show a supervisor. It is one part of a compliance programme, not the whole of one. See what screening costs, start your free trial (15 days, 100 entities, no credit card required), or go to DeRiskHub.com.
This article is informational and does not constitute legal advice. It lists dates as verified against the legal texts and AMLA's published material on 21 October 2026. AMLA's operational dates can change. Check AMLA's and the European Commission's own pages before relying on any date.