What AMLD5 changed
- Crypto: providers exchanging virtual currencies for fiat currencies, and custodian wallet providers, came into scope and had to be registered
- Prepaid: the optional exemption from due diligence for e-money was limited to instruments storing at most EUR 150, and excluded cash redemptions and remote payments above EUR 50
- Ownership: beneficial ownership registers for companies were opened to any member of the general public
- High-risk third countries: a set list of enhanced due diligence measures (Article 18a)
- Accounts: central registers or retrieval systems that identify the holders of bank and payment accounts
- Art: traders and intermediaries in works of art, for transactions of EUR 10,000 or more
Where AMLD5 stands today
AMLD5 is not a separate rulebook: its changes live inside the consolidated Directive (EU) 2015/849. Two of them have since been rewritten.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 replaced the two crypto categories with crypto-asset service providers as MiCA defines them. Directive (EU) 2024/1640 narrowed access to ownership registers to persons or organisations that can demonstrate a legitimate interest, and repeals Directive (EU) 2015/849 with effect from 10 July 2027.
Why AMLD5 still matters
AMLD5 is the reason crypto exchanges and wallet custodians in Europe carry anti-money laundering duties, and national registration regimes for them date from its transposition. In the UK, amending regulations brought cryptoasset exchange providers and custodian wallet providers into the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 from 10 January 2020.
AMLD5, AMLD4 or AMLD6?
- AMLD4
- Directive (EU) 2015/849 of 20 May 2015, the base text. AMLD5 amended it and did not replace it.
- AMLD6
- A label used for two laws: Directive (EU) 2018/1673 on combating money laundering by criminal law, and Directive (EU) 2024/1640, which Member States transpose by 10 July 2027.
- AML Regulation
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, which sets the rules for firms directly from 10 July 2027.
Where AMLD5 shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- KYC / AMLIdentity checks, screening and ongoing monitoring, with the verification provider you choose.
- Compliance reportingTransaction monitoring, the Travel Rule and regulatory reports, ready for your regulator.
- Custody & walletsWallets on every major chain, with MPC custody from leading providers or your own keys.
Platforms that need it
Guides that go deeper
- FCA cryptoasset registration: what UK crypto firms needWhat FCA registration under the Money Laundering Regulations asks of a UK crypto business, how crypto promotions are controlled, and what changes on 25 October 2027.
- MiCA checklist: launching a crypto exchange in the EUWhat the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation asks of an exchange: authorisation, capital, governance, client assets, the trading platform rules, and the laws that sit beside it.
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- Directive (EU) 2018/843, AMLD5 (EUR-Lex)
- Directive (EU) 2015/849, the Anti-Money Laundering Directive, consolidated (EUR-Lex)
- Directive (EU) 2024/1640, Articles 74, 77 and 78 (EUR-Lex)
- Money Laundering Regulations 2017, regulation 14A (legislation.gov.uk)
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.