IRISH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS are campaigning across Europe to make a pitch for Ireland to become the base for Europe’s money laundering watchdog.

A team has been established inside the Department of Finance to campaign for the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) to be headquartered in Dublin. 

In a glossy booklet, handed out to political leaders, diplomats and law enforcement experts where possible, they outline the key benefits of placing the centre here.

It includes claims of high third-level education attendance, the third-highest level of science and technology graduates in Europe, good transport links and strong financial sector regulation. 

Ten countries so far have expressed an interest in hosting AMLA, but the formal selection process has yet to begin. The 10 are Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium and Ireland.

The agency will have an annual budget of €400m and it employs 500 people.  

A spokesperson for the Department of Finance confirmed that they were continuing to bid for the AMLA for Dublin. 

The department official said that it would see the Central Bank of Ireland playing a pivotal role and would support EU financial intelligence units (FIUs) with a dedicated cooperation mechanism.

“Negotiations are ongoing between the European Parliament, EU Commission and EU Council, on the remaining parts of the AML package yet to be agreed,” the spokesperson said. 

However, to date, the question of where AMLA will be located, once established, has remained separate to these negotiations. Nevertheless, there is an expectation that the seat location will have to be addressed soon after the EU Parliament returns from its summer recess.

Previously, the location of EU authorities was decided by Heads of State. However, in July 2022, the ECJ ruled that “the competence to decide on [the location of the seat of the European Medicines Agency and the European Labour Authority] is for the EU legislature and not the Member States”.

This means that all future decisions on the location of an EU institution must be taken as part of the usual co-legislative process, ie that the EU Parliament’s decision has equal weight to that of the EU Council.

Key to the new agency will be identifying the most likely routes for money laundering, and all forms of analysis.

“Specifically, AMLA will directly supervise the so-called ‘riskiest’ entities from across the EU, where each such entity operates in a large number of Member States.

“Currently, the proposal is that this will involve 40 such entities, with at least one from each Member State,” the official explained. 

It is anticipated that AMLA will be operational in 2024.

Key to the Irish pitch is Ireland’s size and the fact that the EU should spread such bodies across the member states. 

“We believe that in the efforts to ensure no weak link in the chain, it is important that the particular issues for and perspectives of smaller and newer EU Member States need to be more clearly understood across the EU and Ireland has done much to ensure same.

“Having AMLA in Ireland will make it more likely that those efforts can not only continue, but be more successful on behalf of all the smaller, or newer, EU States.

“Ireland is viewed by our EU counterparts as a centre for strong regulation and enforcement. Locating AMLA in Dublin would further enhance our reputation and strengthen the perception of Ireland as a safe place to do business,” the spokesperson added. 

This is the third such campaign the government has embarked on in recent years. Ireland missed out on hosting the European Medicines Agency following the UK’s decision to leave the EU after Member States voted for Amsterdam over Dublin. Similarly, Paris beat out the Irish capital in the competition to bring the European Banking Authority to its shores in 2017.