Central Bank of Ireland deputy governor Derville Rowland has been confirmed as a member of the executive board of the European Union‘s new Anti-Money Laundering Agency (AMLA).
Ms Rowland will be one of five executive board members at the Frankfurt-based agency and will leave her role with the Irish regulator, where she is responsible for consumer and investor protection.
The Central Bank said the recruitment process to find her replacement is ongoing. In the meantime, deputy governor for financial regulation Mary-Elizabeth McMunn will take on Ms Rowland’s former role.
Ms Rowland said she was proud to be appointed to the new organisation, which is tasked with “making our financial system cleaner, our economy more resilient and our people safer”.
She said: “For our financial system to be trustworthy, it will need a collective and unyielding European response to ensure that money laundering and terrorist financing are systematically combated. I look forward to helping to lead that work.”
‘We’re at a critically low level of housing stock’ for buyers and renters
Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf said he was delighted his colleague will be joining the new EU agency.
“Derville’s appointment to this role is a testament not only to the high regard in which she is held but also to the strong track record of the Central Bank at a European level,” he said.
“I want to thank Derville for her significant contribution to the Central Bank’s public service mission over the last 20 years. On behalf of the Central Bank Commission and staff, I would like to wish her every success.”
As a member organisation of AMLA, Mr Makhlouf said the Central Bank will contribute to its objectives. AMLA is expected to start operations from this summer and hire an initial 80 employees by the end of this year.
It will set uniform standards for compliance and supervision across the EU and serve as a data-sharing hub for national financial intelligence units. From 2028, it will directly oversee 40 of the EU’s riskiest financial institutions as measured by their systemic importance and exposure to illicit finance.
Ireland had bid to host the AMLA but lost out to Germany’s financial capital 11 months ago. The agency is expected to have more than 400 employees by 2027.
Ms Rowland has developed a high domestic profile in recent years, leading the Central Bank’s tracker-mortgage examination and subsequent enforcement actions against the State’s banks.
