G. Skaistė: "Vilnius is the best home for the newly created EU AMLA Agency"
Following the decision to establish a new Anti-Money Laundering Agency (AMLA) at the European Union (EU) level, Lithuania, together with eight other EU states, is participating in a competition to decide in which city this agency will be located. At today's conference "AMLA, We are Waiting for You in Vilnius", Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė emphasized that our capital has all the necessary advantages to win the competition, and one of the essential advantages of Lithuania is accumulated experience in the field of compliance risk management and a large group of specialists working in this sector.
"Lithuania can boast of successful risk management experience both in the traditional banking sector and in the innovative Fintech segment. As a regional Fintech centre, we have an advanced compliance ecosystem supported by public and private sector collaborations, the most important feature of which is a particularly rich pool of talent working in the field of money laundering prevention. We are consistently gathering support for Lithuania's candidacy and doing the necessary homework. We are convinced that Vilnius is the best home for the AMLA Agency," emphasized Gintarė Skaistė.
The AMLA will be the main body ensuring a coherent and unified framework for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing in the financial sector at EU level. It is expected that the agency will employ about 400 specialists from all over Europe, and the budget of the institution will reach about EUR 70 million. It is planned that the new agency could start operating in 2024.
According to G. Skaistė, Lithuania's successful experience in money laundering risk management is also reflected in international rankings, such as the Basel Index (2023), where Lithuania ranks highest among the countries seeking to win the AMLA competition. In addition, Vilnius, being one of the greenest European capitals, can offer future AMLA employees a high quality of life at a competitive price, quality health and social services, a multilingual education system and an active and dynamic labour market.
More information about Lithuania's candidacy, including the application submitted for evaluation by the European Commission (EC), is available on the website of the Ministry of Finance.
Last updated: 20-12-2023
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