The Spanish Government has approved in the Council of Ministers the draft bill that shapes the National Financial Integrity Authority (ANIFI). It represents one of the most significant reforms of the Spanish anti-money laundering framework in recent decades and seeks to align national regulations with the European 2024 package and with FATF standards.
The new authority will concentrate functions that are currently split between Sepblac and the Secretariat of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering. It will take on financial intelligence, supervision, inspection, and sanctioning powers. It will also take charge of an area that until now had no clear responsible body in Spain: the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. ANIFI will also be Spain’s sole point of contact with the future European Anti-Money Laundering Authority, AMLA.
The draft bill brings several changes that directly affect obliged entities in the financial sector:
- Beneficial ownership of legal entities: The Central Registry will gain new inspection and sanctioning powers to verify who actually controls a company. It’s a shift toward greater transparency in an area that until now had room for opacity.
- Suitability as an entry filter: The second change affects who can operate in the sector. The text tightens suitability requirements and prohibits individuals convicted of money laundering from acting as obliged entities or managing one. It’s a filter that did not previously exist with this level of clarity.
- Expansion of the scope of obliged entities: The draft bill expands the scope of obliged entities. Some aspects of its practical application will be defined during the legislative process and subsequent regulatory development. We’ll have to wait for the next stages of the process to know which players fall under its scope.
ANIFI’s funding also stands out. It will not depend on the General State Budget. It will be sustained through a fee charged to financial entities and gaming operators, plus a percentage of the sanctions it imposes.
The new authority will make use of the structure and resources of the FROB, which will take on a central role in the new institutional model for anti-money laundering supervision.n papel central en el nuevo modelo institucional de supervisión antiblanqueo.
