Spain plans to finance a new national anti-money laundering authority through a levy on banks, gambling operators and other licensed businesses, under a draft law aimed at overhauling the country’s financial crime framework.
The proposed funding model would support the planned National Authority for Financial Integrity, known by its Spanish acronym ANIFI. The authority is intended to bring together responsibilities currently divided among several public bodies, including financial intelligence, supervision, inspections and sanctions.
Spain’s Council of Ministers approved the draft legislation at first reading on 28 July 2026. The proposal is now subject to public consultation and further parliamentary consideration, meaning the levy and the authority’s final powers could still change before the legislation is adopted.portal.
New AML authority planned
ANIFI would be established as an independent administrative authority responsible for coordinating Spain’s response to money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
According to Spain’s Ministry of Economy, the agency would consolidate functions currently performed by the country’s financial intelligence unit, SEPBLAC, and the Secretariat of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offences, known as COPBLAC.
Its responsibilities would include:
- Financial intelligence and analysis.
- AML and counter-terrorist-financing supervision.
- Inspections of regulated businesses.
- Investigations and enforcement.
- The power to impose administrative sanctions.
- Implementation of international financial sanctions.
- Measures related to proliferation-financing risks.
- International cooperation with foreign authorities.
The government also intends ANIFI to serve as Spain’s single point of contact with the European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority, or AMLA. The EU body was created under the bloc’s 2024 AML package and is intended to strengthen coordination and direct supervision across member states.portal.mineco.gob+1
The proposed institutional redesign reflects concerns that responsibilities are currently dispersed across different agencies. By placing financial intelligence, supervision and enforcement within one specialised authority, the government says it aims to improve coordination and strengthen Spain’s ability to respond to increasingly complex financial crime threats.
Levy would target licensed businesses
The proposed authority would not rely entirely on Spain’s general state budget. Instead, it would have an autonomous funding model based primarily on a levy imposed on obliged entities that require an administrative licence or authorisation to operate.
The government has identified financial institutions and gambling operators as the main groups expected to contribute. The category of financial institutions could include banks, insurers and investment firms, although the precise scope will depend on the final legislation and subsequent regulations.
A limited share of the fines imposed by ANIFI would also be allocated to the authority. The government said those funds would be used for activities connected with the prevention and investigation of money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as international cooperation.
The Ministry of Economy has described the model as sustainable and independent from the state budget, arguing that it would avoid an additional cost to taxpayers. However, the draft framework does not yet set out the final amount of the levy, how it would be calculated or whether contributions would vary according to a firm’s size, risk profile or regulated activity.
Those details are expected to be addressed through later regulatory development. The structure of the levy is likely to be closely watched by banks, insurers, investment companies and gambling businesses because it could create a new recurring compliance-related cost.
Wider AML framework overhaul
The funding proposal forms part of a broader replacement of Spain’s existing AML legislation. The draft law is intended to replace Law 10/2010, which has governed the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing for more than 15 years.
The reform would align Spain’s national framework with the EU’s 2024 anti-money laundering package. That package includes the regulation establishing AMLA, the EU’s directly applicable Anti-Money Laundering Regulation and a directive requiring national implementation measures.
The draft also seeks to incorporate recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force and address weaknesses identified in the application of Spain’s current system. The government says the updated framework would place greater emphasis on risk-based supervision and emerging vulnerabilities linked to technological and financial innovation.
The reform is particularly relevant to digital assets and other sectors that have expanded rapidly since the current Spanish framework was introduced. Earlier reporting on the proposed legislation indicated that crypto-asset service providers, crowdfunding platforms and professional football clubs and agents could be brought within the scope of AML obligations.
The proposal would also strengthen transparency concerning the beneficial ownership of companies. It would give the Central Registry of Beneficial Ownership enhanced inspection and sanctioning powers, while introducing stricter suitability requirements for people managing or operating businesses subject to AML rules.
People convicted of money laundering could be prevented from acting as obliged entities or managing businesses covered by the legislation. The government also plans to reinforce controls on cash movements.
Impact on banks and gambling operators
Banks already face extensive obligations to identify customers, monitor transactions, report suspicious activity and maintain systems designed to prevent financial crime. A new levy would therefore be an additional financial obligation rather than a completely new compliance requirement.
For gambling operators, the proposal comes amid increasing regulatory attention to customer identification, payment flows, suspicious betting activity and the movement of illicit funds through online platforms. Gambling businesses are included among the licensed obliged entities that would help finance ANIFI under the government’s proposed model.
The levy could also influence how regulated firms assess the cost of operating in Spain. Depending on the final design, businesses may seek clarity on whether the charge will be fixed, linked to revenue or calculated according to risk and supervisory intensity.
Industry participants may also scrutinise the proposal’s governance safeguards. Using part of sanctions revenue to fund prevention and enforcement could provide ANIFI with a stable source of income, but it may also raise questions about institutional independence and the relationship between enforcement activity and funding.
The draft describes the sanctions allocation as limited. The government’s stated aim is to ensure that enforcement proceeds are reinvested in combating financial crime rather than treated as general revenue.
FROB structure to support launch
To accelerate ANIFI’s creation, the government proposes building the new authority on the existing operational structure of the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring, or FROB.
The Ministry of Economy said this approach would allow ANIFI to use existing operational services and financial-sector expertise. The proposal is part of a wider reorganisation of Spain’s bank-resolution framework.
Under the draft, executive resolution responsibilities currently assigned to FROB would be transferred to the authorities already responsible for preventive resolution: the Bank of Spain for credit institutions and the National Securities Market Commission, or CNMV, for investment firms.
The government says the changes would create one resolution authority for each type of institution while maintaining functional separation between supervision and resolution. The Ministry of Economy would retain involvement in decisions with implications for public finances or financial stability.portal.
Legislative process and next steps
The draft law was approved at first reading rather than enacted. It must undergo public consultation, further government review and parliamentary scrutiny before becoming binding law.
Spain’s Ministry of Economy has invited interested parties to submit comments by 30 September 2026. Contributions may come from companies, industry associations, professional organisations and other stakeholders affected by the proposed framework.
The consultation process could lead to changes in the authority’s powers, the businesses covered by the levy, the calculation of contributions and the treatment of sanctions revenue.
Until the legislation is passed and implementing regulations are issued, banks, gambling firms and other regulated businesses cannot determine their precise financial exposure. The proposal nevertheless signals a significant shift in Spain’s AML architecture: a centralised national authority, a broader range of regulated sectors and a funding system designed to make the body financially independent from ordinary budget allocations.
The reform also positions Spain for closer cooperation with AMLA and other European regulators as the EU moves towards a more harmonised system for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.