Article 53 — General provisions
Financial crimeLevel 1DirectiveAMLD6In forceIn force on the date shown, by the dates in the Official Journal.VerifiedIdentical to the official source.Official source
1.Member States shall ensure that obliged entities can be held liable for breaches of Regulations (EU) 2024/1624 and (EU) 2023/1113 in accordance with this Section.
2.Without prejudice to the right of Member States to provide for and impose criminal sanctions, Member States shall lay down rules on pecuniary sanctions and administrative measures and ensure that supervisors may impose such pecuniary sanctions and apply administrative measures with respect to breaches of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 or Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 and shall ensure that they are enforced. Any sanction imposed or measure applied pursuant to this Section shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
3.By way of derogation from paragraph 2, where the legal system of a Member State does not provide for administrative sanctions, this Article may be applied in such a manner that the pecuniary sanction is initiated by the supervisor and imposed by a judicial authority, while ensuring that those legal remedies are effective and have an equivalent effect to the pecuniary sanctions imposed by supervisors. In any event, the pecuniary sanctions imposed shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
The Member States referred to in the first subparagraph shall communicate to the Commission the measures of national law which they adopt pursuant to this paragraph by 10 July 2027 and, without delay, any subsequent amendments thereto.
4.In the event of a breach of Regulations (EU) 2024/1624 and (EU) 2023/1113, Member States shall ensure that where obligations apply to legal persons, pecuniary sanctions can be imposed and administrative measures can be applied not only to the legal person, but also to the senior management and to other natural persons who under national law are responsible for the breach.
Member States shall ensure that where supervisors identify breaches which are subject to criminal sanctions, they inform the authorities competent for investigating and prosecuting criminal activities in a timely manner.
5.In accordance with this Directive and with national law, pecuniary sanctions shall be imposed and administrative measures shall be applied in any of the following ways:
By 10 October 2027, Member States shall notify to the Commission and AMLA the information as regards the arrangements relating to the imposition of pecuniary sanctions or application of administrative measures pursuant to this paragraph, including, where relevant, information whether certain sanctions or measures require the recourse to a specific procedure.
6.Member States shall ensure that, when determining the type and level of pecuniary sanctions or administrative measures, supervisors take into account all relevant circumstances, including where applicable:
7.Member States shall ensure that legal persons can be held liable for the breaches of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 or Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 committed on their behalf or for their benefit by any person, acting individually or as part of a body of that legal person and having a leading position within that legal person, based on any of the following:
8.Member States shall ensure that legal persons can be held liable where the lack of supervision or control by a person as referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article has made possible the breaches of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 or Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 by a person under their authority on behalf of or for the benefit of the legal person.
9.In the exercise of their powers to impose pecuniary sanctions and apply administrative measures, supervisors shall cooperate closely and, where relevant, coordinate their actions with other authorities as appropriate, in order to ensure that those pecuniary sanctions or administrative measures produce the desired results and coordinate their action when dealing with cross-border cases.
10.By 10 July 2026, AMLA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards and submit them to the Commission for adoption. Those draft regulatory technical standards shall set out:
Power is delegated to the Commission to supplement this Directive by adopting the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 49 to 52 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1620.