There is a three way battle for the position of Chair of the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), between an Italian, a German and a Dutchman. Börsen-Zeitung understands that Rome sees good chances for Bruna Szego, who has worked at the Banca d'Italia since 1990. Rome lost out to Frankfurt in the race for the location of AMLA.

In addition to Szego, Marcus Pleyer from the Federal Ministry of Finance is also in the running. He was President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) from 2020 to 2022. The third candidate is Jan Reinder De Carpentier from the Netherlands, Vice President of the Single Resolution Board (SRB).

All three candidates have reportedly already been interviewed by the EU Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness. They will also be questioned behind closed doors by a committee of the European Parliament. After a series of further hearings, a vote will then take place. The candidate needs a qualified majority in the Council.

AMLA is due to start work next year, and will have 400 to 500 employees. Based in Frankfurt, it will be responsible for supervising the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing at EU level. In addition to standardising key regulations, AMLA will help take European activities in this area to a new level. It will work closely with the national supervisory authorities. There are major differences between EU countries in the fight against money laundering, which makes it very difficult to combat such practices effectively.

Szego comes from Savona in Liguria, and graduated with honours in law from the Università degli Studi Sociali in Rome. She is the daughter of the mathematician Giorgio Szego, who was co-director of the study group on the Italian banking system at New York University, and an advisor to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the OECD. In 1988 he was appointed President of the European Finance Association.

Since 2022, Bruna Szego has been responsible for the unit within the Banca d'Italia that reports directly to management and deals with the regulation and supervision of money laundering and the fight against terrorism in Italy. She has published extensively on these topics, and has also represented the central bank at hearings before parliament and internationally.

She was an alternate member of the Single Resolution Mechanism committee, a member of the Resolution Committee of the European Banking Authority, a member of the ESRB Advisory Technical Committee, an alternate member of the Supervisory Board of the European Banking Authority and much more.

Szego was also involved in various functions within the Banca d'Italia in matters relating to the supervision of the banking system. From 2014 to 2016, she was involved in coordinating and updating issues relating to the resolution of banking crises.