Bruna Szego Named Chair of EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority

Strasbourg (Eurotoday) – Bruna Szego, selected as chair of the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority, won despite lacking backing from major groups.

Bruna Szego from Italy was picked as the chair of the EU’s new dirty money watchdog following a three-hour hearing before the European Parliament’s economy and justice committees and an ensuing discussion on the pick.

Bruna Szego secured a majority to dominate rival candidates Marcus Pleyer of Germany and Jan Reinder De Carpentier of the Netherlands, despite lacking the backing of the centre-right European People’s Party, the biggest group in the Parliament, or of the Greens.

What makes Bruna Szego a strong fit for AMLA leadership?

Concerning Szego’s background, she founded and leads the anti-money laundering (AML) supervision and regulation unit at the Bank of Italy, having previously led its regulation and macroprudential analysis directorate. She poses on the EBA’s anti-money laundering standing committee; one of her muscles is linking macroprudential and AML threats.

When will the EU’s new AMLA rules take effect?

European Union’s new single Anti Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), and the governance system it raises, are designed to grant it adequate independence from national regulators to allow it to interfere when country watchdogs fail. It comes after Europe underwent a series of dirty money scandals. The new Frankfurt-based structure will hire some 450 staffers and will begin direct charge of high-risk financial entities as of January 2028, with the EU’s new anti-money laundering rules beginning to take effect six months earlier.

The selection of Szego by lawmakers is the crucial stage in the AMLA chair selection process. 

Olivier Salles, the EU authorised handling practices “to deliver the initial [AMLA] start-up” stated last week he hoped the body’s chair could “be appointed in January” to take up their responsibilities as quickly as possible, and that a decision on the AMLA executive board could be taken in February.