Directive (EU) 2018/1673 harmonizes the money laundering offense across the EU: 22 categories of predicate offenses, criminal liability of legal persons and minimum prison penalties. We help you adapt your compliance program and defend you in proceedings.
Is your AML compliance aligned with AMLD6? Free assessment
Tell us about your situation and we will point out the critical adjustments.
Six lines of work to align your compliance, address the criminal liability of the legal person and respond to proceedings arising from the Sixth Directive.
We review your AML manual to incorporate the 22 categories of predicate offenses, the criminal liability of the legal person and the new prevention standards.
Design or update of the legal person’s criminal compliance program in line with AMLD6 and Article 31 bis of the Spanish Criminal Code.
We identify which offenses within the 22 AMLD6 categories are relevant to your business and design specific controls for them.
Independent technical opinion on the adequacy of your AML program and its alignment with AMLD6, useful in criminal proceedings and supervisory reviews.
External review of your program: gap analysis against the Sixth Directive, evidence, KPIs and a documented remediation plan.
Strategy when a legal person is charged with money laundering or self-laundering: proving that the model is effective, mitigating circumstances and exemptions.
Banks, fintechs, CASPs, real estate firms, professional firms, casinos and any entity exposed to money laundering risk: AMLD6 raises the bar and widens the exposure of legal persons.
“AMLD6 requires you to integrate the 22 categories of predicate offenses into your AML risk map and to prove that your program is effective: governance, controls and evidence.”
“Without an adequate program under Criminal Code Art. 31 bis that is aligned with AMLD6, the company can be held criminally liable for money laundering, self-laundering or aiding and abetting.”
“In crypto, AMLD6 coexists with MiCA and the AMLR: you must demonstrate effective controls, on-chain analysis and procedures consistent with the EU framework.”
“AMLD6 also affects real estate and legal professionals: aiding and abetting and incitement are expressly made criminal offenses.”
The Sixth Directive broadens the catalog of predicate offenses, criminalizes ancillary conduct and raises minimum penalties. For legal persons, the cost of not having an adequate compliance program soars.
22 categories of predicate offenses: the harmonized list in AMLD6 Art. 2 broadens the conduct that can generate funds subject to money laundering.
Aiding, abetting and incitement made criminal offenses: AMLD6 expressly penalizes complicity, incitement and attempted money laundering.
Punishable self-laundering: the perpetrator of the predicate offense is also liable for laundering their own proceeds (where the Member State provides for it).
Required maximum penalty of at least 4 years: Member States must provide for at least 4 years in prison for the most serious money laundering cases.
Liability of legal persons for money laundering committed for their benefit by directors or made possible by a lack of supervision.
For legal persons: criminal fines, disqualification from contracting, judicial supervision, closure of establishments and dissolution.
We help you update your crime prevention program: 22 categories of predicate offenses, liability of the legal person, aiding and abetting, and self-laundering. A solid defense and evidence.
AMLD6 is Directive (EU) 2018/1673 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 23, 2018 on combating money laundering by criminal law.
Its aim is to harmonize the definition of the money laundering offense across the EU, broaden the catalog of predicate offenses and strengthen the criminal liability of legal persons. It complements the administrative AML framework (AMLD4, AMLD5 and the new AMLR/AMLD6 bis package).
AMLD5 (Directive 2018/843) is administrative and preventive in nature: it extends the list of obliged entities (including crypto providers) and strengthens KYC and beneficial ownership registers.
AMLD6 is criminal in nature: it defines the money laundering offense, the categories of predicate offenses, the criminal liability of legal persons and minimum penalties. One covers the “before” (prevention), the other the “after” (criminal punishment).
AMLD6 Art. 2 lists 22 categories. The most relevant for business activity are:
Any proceeds derived from this conduct can be the object of punishable money laundering under AMLD6.
AMLD6 Art. 7 requires Member States to ensure that legal persons can be held criminally liable for money laundering when the offense is committed for their benefit: (a) by a director or representative; or (b) because of a lack of supervision or control over an employee.
In Spain, this liability is channeled through Article 31 bis of the Criminal Code, which requires an adequate crime prevention model (compliance program) for the company to qualify for an exemption or a mitigating circumstance.
For natural persons: a maximum penalty of at least 4 years in prison in the most serious cases (AMLD6 Art. 5).
For legal persons (AMLD6 Art. 8): criminal fines, exclusion from tax benefits or public aid, temporary or permanent disqualification from commercial activities, judicial supervision, closure of establishments and dissolution.
Spain transposed AMLD6 through a reform of the Criminal Code and legislative adjustments, keeping the penalty framework for the money laundering offense (Arts. 301 et seq. of the Criminal Code).
Yes. AMLD6 Art. 4 requires Member States to make inciting, aiding and abetting, and attempting money laundering criminal offenses.
This significantly increases the risk for advisers, intermediaries and professionals who facilitate transactions without the required due diligence.
Self-laundering is money laundering committed by the same person who committed the predicate offense. AMLD6 Art. 3(5) allows Member States to criminally punish the perpetrator of the underlying offense for laundering their own proceeds as well.
Spain already covers self-laundering in Article 301(1) of the Criminal Code: the perpetrator of the predicate offense can also be liable for laundering their own unlawful proceeds.
Four fronts at the same time:
Adapting your compliance to AMLD6 is not just a matter of touching up a manual: it means reviewing the predicate offense risk map, integrating the criminal liability of the legal person and strengthening the evidence that your program works.
AMLD6 harmonizes the money laundering offense in the EU: the definition of the offense, predicate offenses, ancillary conduct and sanctions for natural and legal persons.
The exemption from liability for a legal person requires an adequate model: risk identification, controls, a whistleblowing channel and oversight.
What counts in criminal proceedings is how effective the model really is: records, minutes, training, alert management and incident response.
Want an independent review of your program? See our external expert report or our corporate compliance services.
Adapting your organization to AMLD6 means linking the legal layer (Directive, Criminal Code, Law 10/2010) with the operational layer: risk map, controls, evidence and training. Here is how we work on it.
1) Risk mapWe map AMLD6 predicate offenses onto your actual business: customers, products, jurisdictions and channels.
2) Corporate modelDesign of the Criminal Code Art. 31 bis program covering money laundering, self-laundering and aiding and abetting under AMLD6.
3) EffectivenessWhat makes the difference at trial: alert logs, compliance officer minutes, documented training and audits.
4) Corporate defenseProving that the model is adequate allows the legal person to benefit from an exemption or, at least, from mitigating circumstances in money laundering proceedings. AMLD6 has raised the bar for what counts as an “effective model”.
Quick mapDocument review of the AML manual and a check of how it fits with Criminal Code Art. 31 bis.
Gap analysis against AMLD6, risk map update and stronger controls and training.
Program redesign, external audit, remediation plan and ongoing reporting to the board.
22 categories of offenses whose proceeds can be laundered.
Risk map by category applied to products, customers and geographies.
Conversion, concealment, acquisition, possession or use of property derived from criminal activity.
Procedures for detecting and reporting suspicious transactions.
Conduct ancillary to money laundering expressly made a criminal offense.
Due diligence in advisory and intermediation services, records of decisions.
Maximum penalty of at least 4 years in prison in the most serious cases.
Mapping against Arts. 301 et seq. of the Spanish Criminal Code after transposition.
Legal persons liable for offenses committed for their benefit.
Criminal Code Art. 31 bis model with evidence of implementation and oversight.
Fines, disqualifications, judicial supervision and dissolution.
Continuity plan and a documented sanctions risk matrix.
Indicators that, in court, cast doubt on whether the compliance program is adequate.
To adapt your compliance to AMLD6, you need a good grasp of these terms: they come up in proceedings, expert opinions, audits and reports to the board of directors.
EU directive that harmonizes the money laundering offense, its predicate offenses and the criminal liability of legal persons.
Criminal conduct whose proceeds can be laundered. AMLD6 lists 22 mandatory categories.
Money laundering committed by the perpetrator of the predicate offense. Spain covers it in Article 301(1) of the Criminal Code.
Conduct ancillary to money laundering (assistance, incitement, attempt) that AMLD6 requires to be made a criminal offense.
Spain’s regime of criminal liability for legal persons. It requires an adequate prevention model to qualify for the exemption.
A key figure in the crime prevention model. They must have autonomy, resources and a direct line to the board.
Ground that exempts a legal person from criminal liability when its prevention model is adequate and effective.
The Spanish law that governs money laundering prevention. It coexists with AMLD6 on the preventive side (as opposed to the criminal side).
Directly applicable regulation that harmonizes money laundering prevention across the EU. A natural complement to AMLD6.
The roadmap for adapting your criminal compliance program to AMLD6: predicate offense mapping, Criminal Code Art. 31 bis model, controls, evidence and remediation plan.
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Directive (EU) 2018/1673 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 23, 2018 on combating money laundering by criminal law, known as AMLD6, is the sixth directive in the series of EU anti-money laundering rules. Unlike AMLD4 and AMLD5, which are administrative and preventive in nature, AMLD6 addresses the criminal dimension: it defines the money laundering offense, harmonizes predicate offenses and strengthens the criminal liability of legal persons.
AMLD6 requires Member States to treat as a predicate offense for money laundering any conduct falling within 22 minimum categories: participation in an organized criminal group, terrorism, trafficking in human beings, drug and arms trafficking, corruption, fraud (including serious tax fraud), currency counterfeiting, environmental crime, cybercrime, murder, kidnapping, robbery, smuggling and crimes against the EU’s financial interests, among others. The catalog significantly broadens the range of activities whose proceeds can be the object of punishable money laundering.
Art. 3 makes the conversion, concealment, acquisition, possession and use of property derived from criminal activity a criminal offense. Art. 4 requires Member States to also punish incitement, aiding and abetting, and attempt, increasing the risk for advisers, intermediaries and professionals who facilitate transactions without due diligence.
Art. 5 sets a maximum penalty of at least 4 years in prison for the most serious cases. Art. 6 sets out aggravating circumstances: commission within a criminal organization, obliged entities that commit the offense in the course of their professional activity, or laundered property of particularly high value.
AMLD6 requires Member States to ensure that legal persons are liable for money laundering committed for their benefit by directors or representatives, or made possible by a lack of supervision. In Spain, this liability is channeled through Article 31 bis of the Criminal Code: the company can only avoid or reduce its liability if it proves that it has an adequate and effective crime prevention model.
Spain adapted its Criminal Code to AMLD6 (Arts. 301 et seq.), keeping the self-laundering regime and the system of criminal liability of legal persons under Art. 31 bis. AMLD6 coexists with the administrative framework: Law 10/2010, Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR), Directive (EU) 2024/1640 and AMLA, the new EU authority. A modern compliance program must integrate both dimensions, preventive and criminal.
Key legislation, linked to the official text:
Legislation and links reviewed in .