Group rules without a group

Group-wide AML rules were built for groups in the accounting or prudential sense. AMLA's final draft EU standard says when they reach structures that are not groups. So a network or partnership of auditors, accountants or lawyers has a second question: are we a structure?

The document is AMLA's final report of 30 September 2026, Frankfurt am Main: draft regulatory technical standards under Articles 16(4) and 17(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, the AMLR, on group-wide requirements and on branches and subsidiaries in third countries, with the text of a draft Commission Delegated Regulation. It is not law. The report says the draft will be submitted to the European Commission for adoption before publication in the Official Journal; AMLA's press release of 1 October 2026 says the final drafts have now been submitted.

AMLA's executive summary calls the extension to structures other than groups a significant development, particularly for the non-financial sector where such arrangements are common. Draft recital 26 says networks are common arrangements for auditors, external accountants, lawyers and other professionals, and partnerships are also common arrangements for auditors, external accountants, lawyers and notaries.

The definition is draft Article 2. A structure means any form of organisation, agreement or similar that: includes at least two obliged entities; is not a group within the meaning of Article 2(1), point (41), of the AMLR; has the objective of establishing a common framework of business, professional or commercial relationships having an element of duration connecting two or more obliged entities regardless of the legal form used; has common ownership, management, compliance controls or a combination of these elements. In plainer words: two or more firms subject to the AML rules, not already a group, joined in a lasting common framework of business or professional relationships, in whatever legal form, and sharing ownership, management or compliance controls.

The test is draft Article 14(2): structures shall fulfil at least one of three conditions, common ownership, common management or common compliance control, each spelled out in its own list. AMLA's feedback says the three operate as alternative criteria, meaning that the presence of any one of them may be sufficient for a structure to fall within scope. Among the listed limbs: two or more obliged entities that have a common arrangement or mechanism in place to share profits, revenues, results, losses or to transfer remunerations, revenues or costs for services or activities provided; that operate under common policies, procedures or controls managed by internal controls; that share audit or reporting functions overseeing the implementation of controls, policies and procedures; or that have common branding, marketing or franchising arrangements and share the same audits, reviews, risk assessments or internal controls related to such branding, marketing or franchising arrangements. In plainer words: shared profits or costs, a shared rulebook, a shared reviewer, or a shared brand that comes with shared controls.

Compliance here is wider than AML. Draft recital 25: common compliance control should not be limited to compliance under the AML/CFT framework, but include other types of compliance such as any prudential, product and service compliance in place. The same recital says the conditions should be designed broadly to allow a wide application of the group-wide requirements.

What is out. Draft recital 28 says structures that do not share any elements of common ownership, common management or common compliance control should not be considered as falling in the scope, such as structures aiming exclusively to establish customer referral arrangements, to share common technical tools, facilities or knowledge or to exchange best practices or similar without any power of management or control by any entity sharing them, including marketing or distribution strategies; structures sharing the same name, franchise or branding without any power of management or control on the name, branding or franchise by any entity; or structures set up for a specific customer relationship or transaction without any power of management or control between obliged entities. In plainer words: a referral club, a shared toolkit, a common name or a one-deal alliance is out where nobody holds any power of management or control over it. The qualifier does the work.

Being a structure has consequences. Draft Article 14(1): obliged entities within structures shall apply group-wide requirements that are proportionate to the nature of the business, the risks and complexity of the structure and its size. AMLA declined thresholds or de minimis exemptions for smaller entities. One head of the structure in the Union is to be identified under draft Article 15; if it is an obliged entity, it shall notify its role to the supervisor and all the obliged entities in the Union without undue delay and in any case no later than 28 calendar days after the day when the structure is established. For a structure already existing when the Regulation applies, the head notifies the supervisor under draft Article 19(1): no later than 6 months after the Regulation applies. Where the head of the structure is not an obliged entity or there are proven legal impediments under Union legal acts or national laws to appointing one, draft Article 17 lets the obliged entities choose not to identify a head, in duly justified circumstances, subject to the prior permission of supervisors and where all its conditions are met at all times, including minimum common policies, procedures and controls. And where a firm is also in a group, draft Article 14(3): in cases of conflicts, the requirements applicable to the group shall prevail.

Nothing applies yet. Draft Article 20: entry into force on the twentieth day after publication in the Official Journal; application 6 months after entry into force, except for obliged entities referred to in Article 3, points (3)(n) and (o), of the AMLR, from 10 July 2029; the press release puts football agents and professional football clubs on that date. Draft Article 18 repeals Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/758 with effect from 10 July 2027.

So, on this draft, a Cyprus audit, accounting or law practice in a network or partnership has a question to answer before a supervisor asks it: not only are we a group, but are we a structure. Shared ownership, shared management or shared compliance control: any one of the three may be enough.

Not legal advice. Verify against the primary source before acting.

Sources

• PRIMARY.
• CONTEXT.

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