Horizon Scanner Finance - September 2026 - European Developments - Money Laundering

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Under AMLR, obliged entities must continuously monitor and review their business relationships to detect any unusual or suspicious transactions or activities. The draft guidelines are intended to support obliged entities in implementing their ongoing and transaction monitoring duties, setting out core principles applicable across both financial and non-financial sectors.

AMLA intends to issue the final guidelines in Q4 2026.

Press release: Consultation on the draft Guidelines on ongoing monitoring of a business relationship

Consultation: Draft Guidelines on ongoing monitoring of a business relationship under Article 26(5) of AMLR (PDF, 811KB)

AML/CFT – ITS on reporting of suspicions and the provision of transaction records

AMLA’s consultation on draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) specifying the format to be used for the reporting of suspicions and for the provision of transaction records under Article 69(3) of AMLR closes for feedback on 20 September 2026.

The draft ITS establish the format to be used for the reporting of suspicions and for the provision of transaction records to Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). In particular, it provides templates for reporting suspicions adapted to different types of obliged entities, as well as templates for the provision of transaction records by credit and financial institutions.

The proposals aim to enhance consistency and information-sharing across the EU. The final ITS are due to be submitted to the European Commission (the Commission) by 30 November 2026.

Consultation: Consultation on draft ITS under Article 69(3) of AMLR (PDF, 549KB)

AML/CFT – Risk profile of obliged entities in the non-financial sector

AMLA’s consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the methodology for assessing and classifying the inherent and residual risk profile of obliged entities in the non-financial sector under Article 40(2) of Directive (EU) 2024/1640 (AMLD6) closes for feedback on 27 September 2026.

The objective of the consultation is to gather stakeholder feedback on the proposed methodology for assessing and classifying the money laundering and terrorist financing risk profile of non-financial sector obliged entities, the relevance and proportionality of the proposed data points, the treatment of small entities, the operational feasibility of the reporting framework, and the expected implementation costs and challenges.

Press release: AMLA consults on harmonised risk assessments in the non-financial sector

Consultation: Consultation on draft RTS under Article 40(2) of AMLD6 (PDF, 633KB)

CRD IV – 2026 benchmarking exercise

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1872 of 29 July 2026 amending the implementing technical standards laid down in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2070 as regards benchmark portfolios, reporting templates and reporting instructions to be applied in the Union for the reporting referred to in Article 78(2) of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (CRD IV) enters into force on 1 September 2026.

Article 78 of CRD IV requires competent authorities (CA) to conduct an annual assessment of the quality of approaches used for the calculation of own funds requirements by institutions. To assist CAs in this assessment, the European Banking Authority (EBA) calculates and distributes benchmark values to facilitate a comparison of individual institutions’ risk parameters. These benchmark values are based on data submitted by institutions as laid out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2070, which specifies the benchmarking portfolios, templates and definitions to be used as part of the annual benchmarking exercises.

The ITS amend Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2070 for the 2026 benchmarking exercise. The updates:

Reflect amendments to CRD IV made by Directive (EU) 2024/1619 (CRD VI) concerning ESG risks and the supervisory benchmarking requirements
Temporarily limit the scope of the benchmarking exercise to those institutions that are permitted to use the internal model approach (IMA), reflecting the deferral of the application of the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book standards for the calculation of own funds requirements for market risk until 1 January 2027
Restrict data collection for institutions that use the IMA and fall within the scope of the exercise for market risk to the elements of the alternative standardised approach (ASA) until 1 January 2027
Align the exposure classes used in determining the benchmarking portfolios with the approach taken in the templates set out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3117

CRD IV – 2027 benchmarking exercise

The EBA’s consultation on draft ITS amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2070 with regard to the benchmarking of approaches for calculating own funds requirements – 2027 market risk benchmarking exercise, closes for feedback on 3 September 2026.

The consultation updates the information to be collected for the 2027 market risk benchmarking exercise. The proposed amendments are limited in substance and primarily technical and pragmatic. They include:

Extending the exercise’s scope to institutions exclusively applying the ASA
Resuming the collection of data under the current IMA
Postponing the collection of data under the Alternative Internal Model Approach (AIMA)
Postponing the 2027 benchmarking exercise to the second half of 2027
Reorganising and rationalising the market risk reporting templates

Press release: The EBA consults on amendments to data collection for the 2027 market risk benchmarking exercise

Consultation: Consultation Paper on amending ITS for the 2027 market risk benchmarking exercise (PDF, 777KB)

EMIR 3 - EBA fees for validation of pro forma models

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1000 (PDF, 563KB) supplementing Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (EMIR) was published in the Official Journal on 17 August 2026 and enters into force on 6 September 2026.

The Delegated Regulation sets out how the EBA will calculate and collect fees for validating the pro forma models used by certain counterparties to determine collateral requirements for non-centrally cleared OTC derivatives under EMIR. The Delegated Regulation implements the fee framework introduced by Regulation (EU) 2024/2987 (EMIR 3), ensuring that the fees charged cover the EBA’s costs and are proportionate to the scale of the relevant derivatives activity.

Empowering consumers for the green transition

Directive (EU) 2024/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 February 2024 amending Directives 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU as regards empowering consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair practices and through better information (the Green Transition Directive) entered into force on 26 March 2024.

The Green Transition Directive amends Directive 2005/29/EC (the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive / the UCPD) and Directive 2011/83/EU (the Consumer Rights Directive / the CRD). It aims to ensure that consumers can make informed transactional decisions and, in turn, contribute to more sustainable consumption patterns.

The Green Transition Directive requires transposing measures to bring the changes into force. Ireland’s transposing measures, the European Union (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition) Regulations 2026 (S.I. No. 124/2026) (the Regulations), were signed into law on 27 March 2026 and will come into operation on 27 September 2026. The Regulations amend the Consumer Protection Act 2007 (the 2007 Act) which is the primary legislation that gave effect to the UCPD in Ireland, and the Consumer Rights Act 2022, which is the primary legislation giving effect to the CRD.

The amendments to the UCPD and the 2007 Act have the most relevance to the financial services sector.

The 2007 Act prohibits misleading commercial practices in respect of consumer transactions. The Regulations extend the scope of what is considered a misleading commercial practice to include, amongst other things, providing false, misleading or deceptive information about a services’ environmental or social characteristics and making an environmental claim related to future environmental performance without clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments set out in a detailed and realistic plan.

The 2007 Act also prohibits a number of misleading commercial practices outright, and the Regulations expand the prohibited list with a number of new additions. Key ones of relevance to the financial services sector include making a generic environmental claim where the trader is not able to demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance, and making an environmental claim relating to an entire product or entire business, where the claim concerns only a certain aspect of that product or business.

MiCA – Evaluation of the framework

The Commission’s consultations on the functioning of the EU’s regulatory framework on crypto‑assets close for feedback on 30 September 2026.

The consultations include a public questionnaire for individuals and a targeted questionnaire covering more technical and legal questions for stakeholders including digital asset issuers and service providers, financial institutions and technology providers.

This is the first real post-implementation review of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA). The exercise is intended to assess whether MiCA remains fit for purpose in light of rapid market and international regulatory developments.

Press release: Commission seeks feedback on the functioning of EU crypto-assets rules

Consultations:

MiCA – Fines

The EBA’s consultation on a methodology for setting fines under MiCA closes for feedback on 28 September 2026.

The EBA is responsible for supervising issuers of significant asset-referenced tokens and significant e-money tokens under MiCA. If the EBA finds that an issuer of significant tokens, or a member of its management body, has negligently or intentionally committed an infringement of MiCA, it has power to impose fines under Article 131 of MiCA.

MiCA sets maximum amounts of fines, but the precise amount imposed is to be decided on a case-by-case basis. As such, the EBA has developed a draft methodology to provide a consistent and transparent approach to imposing fines. The EBA approach consists of the following two steps:

Determining the basic amount of a fine
Adjusting the basic amount to reflect the existence of any aggravating or mitigating factors specific to the individual case

The EBA may adjust the resulting amount further if this is necessary to reflect its supervisory and consumer protection objectives, subject to the maximum limits set by MiCA.

Press release: EBA consults on a draft methodology for setting fines under MiCA

Consultation: Consultation Paper on methodology for setting fines under MiCA (PDF, 397KB)

This article contains a general summary of developments and is not a complete or definitive statement of the law. Specific legal advice should be obtained where appropriate.

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Horizon Scanner Finance - September 2026 - European Developments

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