Frankfurt beats Vilnius, other cities to host EU anti-money laundering agency

VILNIUS – The European Union's new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) will be based in Frankfurt, which beat off competition from eight other contenders including Vilnius. 

According to BNS sources in EU bodies, the German city received 28 votes in a final joint vote by 54 members of the European Parliament and the EU Council in Brussels on Thursday evening. 

Apart from Frankfurt and Vilnius, seven other cities – Brussels, Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Riga, Rome and Vienna – bid to host the new anti-money laundering body.  

Citing sources, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Thursday evening that Frankfurt had also won a separate vote by the EU Council prior to the joint vote with MEPs.  

Member states were represented in the EU Council by their ambassadors.

Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste posted on Facebook on Thursday evening that Vilnius came third in the EU Council vote, behind Frankfurt and Paris.  

"In the race for the seat of AMLA, Lithuania, which proposed Vilnius as the best city to host it, came a respectable third out of nine contenders in the Council's vote," she wrote. 

It was a great opportunity to showcase Lithuania as a fintech and compliance hub, according to the minister.

AMLA will be the main authority to ensure a coherent and unified framework for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing in the EU financial sector and to coordinate actions with member states' national supervisory authorities.

It is planned that the agency will employ around 400 European specialists and have a budget of about 70 million euros. It is expected to start its operations in Frankfurt in mid-2025.