Anti-Financial Crime & Financial Crime Compliance
Leadership | Insight | Network

Featured Article

EXCLUSIVE: Head of Europe’s AML drive to speak at AMLintelligence’s Boardroom Series event on July 22nd

By Elizabeth Hearst for AMLi

Europe’s top finance official is to be the Keynote Speaker at the upcoming AML Intelligence Boardroom Series event.

John Berrigan, Director-General for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union (FISMA) in the European Commission will spearhead the conference on July 22 next.

‘Europe’s New AML Regime Explained’ will come just days after the publication of the new AML adoption plan by European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, and will see Mr Berrigan explain the plan in detail. 

Mr Berrigan is the most senior official at FISMA which oversees the EU’s financial services regime and is also responsible for anti-money laundering and financial crime prevention.

FISMA’s main role is to focus on the EU financial sector, macro-prudential policies at EU and national levels and bank/non-bank resolutions. 

The Commission’s finance chief first joined the European Commission in 1986 as an Administrative assistant in DG AGRI, before transferring to DG ECFIN in 1991. Mr Berrigan then joined the Treasurer’s Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an Economist in 1994. 

Mr Berrigan was promoted to Head of Unit for Financial Markets and Financial Intermediaries in DG ECFIN in 2000, where he served for ten years before he was appointed Director for Financial Stability and Monetary Affairs in DG ECFIN in 2010. 

Following on from this, Mr Berrigan served as Director for Financial System Surveillance and Crisis Management in DG FISMA in 2014, before he was appointed Deputy Director-General of DG FISMA. Mr Berrigan was then appointed Director-General in March 2020. 

This event will give attendees an invaluable insight into the AML adoption plan and ramifications for the Financial Sector. Attendees will also hear from a range of thought leaders and policymakers at this exciting event to reveal their views on the EU AML adoption plan. 

On Monday last, European Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness told over 1000 international delegates that the EU will impose a €10,000 cash limit on transactions in the bloc, in order to crack down on money laundering. 

Speaking at the AMLintelligence Boardroom Series event, ‘Adoption of Europe’s AML Action Plan’, Ms McGuinness revealed that the EU’s AML supervisor will be operational by 2024, staffed by 2025 and supervising by 2026. 

Chief Executive of the European Banking Federation, Wim Mijs added that fragmentation and a lack of data sharing between entities in the EU are culpable for so many high-profile money laundering scandals that have hit the headlines in the EU in recent years, and added that the current system is “too rule-based”. Mr Mijs also called for an “effective AML framework” to be implemented in the bloc. 

Julie Teigland, EY Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) Managing Partner warned that “accountants and auditors” will play an enhanced role in anti-money laundering, once the AML supervisor is implemented, adding that “monitoring is not uniform across the EU”. 

Register your interest for our upcoming ‘Europe’s New AML Regime Explained’ event with John Berrigan on July 22nd here: 

Share this on:

Follow us on:

AML Intelligence
We hope you enjoyed reading this article

If you would like unlimited access to AML Intelligence premium articles, newsletter delivered twice a week, access to our Global Bank Fines and Penalties database, free access to Boardroom Series events and much more, select one of our subscription options and become a subscriber!