What is the AMLR Single Rulebook (the 2024 EU AML package)?

Until 2024, EU anti-money-laundering law rested on **directives** (most recently the fourth AML Directive (EU) 2015/849) that each Member State transposed differently into national law. The result was a patchwork with supervisory arbitrage and 27 slightly divergent regimes. The **“Single Rulebook”** shifts the substantive obligations — customer due diligence (CDD), beneficial ownership, reporting — into a **directly applicable regulation** (the AMLR) that applies identically across all Member States **without national transposition** ^[1].

The package was adopted on 31 May 2024 and published in the Official Journal on 19 June 2024. It comprises three legal acts that are frequently confused: the **AMLR — Regulation (EU) 2024/1624** (the actual Single Rulebook carrying the substantive obligations) ^[1]; the **AMLA Regulation (EU) 2024/1620**, which establishes the new EU anti-money-laundering authority ^[2]; and **AMLD6 — Directive (EU) 2024/1640**, which governs the institutional framework (supervisory structures, FIUs, registers) and repeals the old fourth directive ^[3].

A mnemonic against the most common confusion: **AMLR = 2024/1624** (the rulebook), **AMLA Regulation = 2024/1620** (the authority). The two numbers are routinely swapped.

The **Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA)** is seated in **Frankfurt am Main**. The AMLA Regulation has applied since 1 July 2025; the authority began operating in 2025. Its **direct supervision** of the roughly **40** highest-risk, cross-border financial institutions begins **from 2028** — selection of those entities takes place in 2027 ^[2].

AMLA has a dual role: **direct supervision** of the selected high-risk groups (via joint supervisory teams) and **indirect supervision / coordination** — assessing and peer-reviewing national supervisors, and supporting and coordinating the financial intelligence units (FIUs). It also issues a large body of technical standards (RTS/ITS) and guidelines operationalising the AMLR — much of it during 2026, ahead of the application date.

The **AMLR** entered into force on 9 July 2024 but applies only **from 10 July 2027** (for professional football clubs and agents only from 10 July 2029). **AMLD6** must be transposed by Member States by 10 July 2027, with some earlier and later staggered deadlines for individual provisions (including register and access rules) ^[1][3].

In practice, 2026 is the year in which obliged entities should map their nationally grounded programmes against the AMLR articles and track the AMLA consultations — not wait until 2027.

Substantively, the AMLR brings EU-wide harmonised core duties: a **Union-wide cash-payment limit of EUR 10,000** (Member States may set lower limits); a retained **25% threshold** for beneficial ownership with tightened rules against layered ownership structures; and harmonised CDD, record-keeping and governance requirements ^[1].

Scope expands materially: **crypto-asset service providers (CASPs)** are now expressly obliged entities and may not maintain anonymous accounts — tying the AMLR into MiCA and the Travel Rule (TFR). Newly covered entities also include professional football clubs and agents, and dealers in high-value goods (such as motor vehicles above EUR 250,000 and boats/aircraft above EUR 7.5 million) ^[1].