AMLD: Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (as amended by the fifth, 2018/843)
The fourth AML Directive, 2015/849, amended by the fifth, 2018/843, is what today's national anti-money-laundering laws are built on. It turned crypto exchanges and custodian wallet providers into obliged entities that had to register with their national authorities, the same VASP registrations that MiCA later replaced. It stays in force until the AMLR takes over on 10 July 2027.
At a glance
| Official title | Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing1 |
|---|---|
| English title | Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (as amended by the fifth, 2018/843) |
| Citation | Directive (EU) 2015/849 |
| Jurisdiction | European Union (applies in every EU/EEA state) |
| Type | directive |
| Adopted | 2015-05-20 |
| In force from | 2015-06-25 |
| Status | In force until the AMLR and AMLD6 apply on 10 July 2027 |
Full text
Official full text: Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (as amended by the fifth, 2018/843) (PDF, en)1 · 676 KB · file checked 2026-09-24
Official page: eur-lex.europa.eu1
Summary
The fourth AML Directive, as amended by the fifth (Directive (EU) 2018/843), underpins the national anti-money-laundering laws now in force. The fifth directive pulled providers of exchange services between virtual and fiat currencies, plus custodian wallet providers, into scope and made member states register them. That registration was the origin of the national VASP regimes that came before MiCA. The directive itself rests on risk-based customer due diligence, beneficial ownership registers and suspicious-transaction reporting.
Summary written by the Atlas from the official text; the law itself prevails.
Main articles
- Art. 2(1)(3)(g), (h): Brought virtual currency exchange providers and custodian wallet providers into the obliged-entity category; the change came via 2018/843.
- Art. 13: Spells out the customer due diligence duties.
- Art. 30: Requires member states to keep central registers of beneficial owners.
- Art. 47(1): Makes registration compulsory for virtual currency exchange and custodian wallet providers.
Licences it governs
Regulators that apply it
- Spain
Bank of Spain (BdE)
Banco de España is Spain's national central bank and banking supervisor, operating as an integral part of the European System of Central Ban
- Luxembourg
Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF)
The CSSF is Luxembourg's unified public supervisory authority for the financial centre. It carries out prudential supervision and market con
- Estonia
Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)
The Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (Rahapesu Andmebüroo) is an independent government agency under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Upcoming changes
- 2027-07-10: Replaced by the AMLR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1624) and AMLD6 (Directive (EU) 2024/1640).1
Sources
- EUR-Lex: CELEX 32015L0849 · retrieved 2026-09-24
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