For obliged entities
Every obliged entity in Belgium has its own AML supervisory authority. The Law of 18 September 2017 assigns that authority category by category. It can impose an administrative fine that runs into the millions. Who supervises you, and on what, therefore follows from the category your company falls into.
Who supervises your company in Belgium?
Article 85, § 1, of the Law of 18 September 2017 divides supervision by category. The National Bank of Belgium supervises the entities in article 5, § 1, 4° to 10°, and the crypto-asset service providers. The FSMA supervises categories 11° to 20°. The Federal Public Service Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy supervises 21°, 25°/1 and 29° to 31°/6.
The accountancy professions and the ministerial officers each have their own supervisor. The College of Supervision of Auditors supervises the statutory auditors. The Institute for Tax Advisors and Accountants supervises the certified accountants and tax advisers. The National Chamber of Notaries supervises the notaries, and the National Chamber of Judicial Officers supervises the judicial officers.
For lawyers, the supervisory authority is the President of their Bar. The Gaming Commission supervises the operators of games of chance. The Federal Public Service Home Affairs supervises the security firms. If your company does not appear in the exhaustive list of article 5, § 1, article 85 designates no authority for you. Anti-money laundering legislation then reaches you mainly as the client of a bank and as the party that must file with the UBO register.
What fine can the supervisory authority impose?
Article 132, § 2, of the Belgian AML law sets two ceilings. For the entities in article 5, § 1, 1° to 22°, the administrative fine reaches 5 000 000 euro at most. If ten per cent of the annual net turnover of the last financial year exceeds that amount, that percentage becomes the maximum for a legal person. For the entities in 23° to 33° the ceiling is 1 250 000 euro.
If the breach produced a profit or avoided a loss, the maximum may be raised to twice that amount. The fine does not necessarily stop at the company. Article 132, § 1, allows the fine to be imposed on the responsible members of the statutory governing body, of the management committee or of senior management.
Article 132, § 8, works the other way round. It makes legal persons liable under civil law for the administrative fines imposed on the obliged persons who carry on their activity there. That covers anyone acting there as a director or as an active partner. It also covers anyone working there under a contract for services or under a mandate.
The UBO register carries a fine of its own
The sanction for a faulty UBO file comes from the Minister of Finance, not from your supervisor. Article 132, § 6, allows the minister or a delegate to impose an administrative fine of 250 euro at the least and 50 000 euro at the most. The minister does so on finding a breach of article 1:35 of the Code of Companies and Associations, or a breach of the quality of the data filed. The fine falls on the directors responsible for the breach.
The same administrative sanctions apply to the beneficial owner who fails to give the company the data. Article 1:36, second paragraph, of the Code of Companies and Associations provides for that. Article 1:35 obliges the governing body to file the data with the UBO register electronically within one month. Article 5 of the Royal Decree of 30 July 2018 also requires an update at least once a year.
Your counterparties read that register. Article 74/1 of the Belgian AML law obliges the obliged entities to report every discrepancy between the data in the UBO register and the data they hold themselves. The identity of the reporting party is never disclosed to the company concerned. The register itself sits with the General Administration of the Treasury of the Federal Public Service Finance (article 73).
What do you put in order in advance?
The file a supervisor asks for consists of documents the law names itself. Article 16 requires an overall risk assessment that takes account of the clients, the products and services, the countries involved and the delivery channels. Article 8 requires policies, procedures and internal control measures proportionate to the nature and the size of your company. A member of senior management approves them.
Article 9, § 1, obliges a legal person to appoint one person responsible at the highest level within the statutory governing body or senior management. Article 9, § 2, also requires one or more people who analyse the atypical transactions and file the reports with the Financial Intelligence Processing Unit. The anti-money laundering regulation of the National Bank of Belgium of 21 November 2017 calls that person the AMLCO. Its article 7 requires the AMLCO to report on activity at least once a year.
Article 7 of the law imposes a risk-based approach. Article 19, § 2, third paragraph, obliges you to demonstrate to the supervisory authority that your measures match the risk you identified. A check therefore covers not only what you did, but also whether you can justify that choice. Article 60 requires identification data to be kept for ten years, and article 62, § 1, requires the personal data to be erased once that period expires.
We test your anti-money laundering policy with an AML audit and bring your staff up to standard with tailored anti-money laundering training. Our in-house AML support covers assistance during a check by the supervisory authority. If your bank or your supervisor asks about the origin of funds, a legal origin audit establishes it. The wider framework sits on our page about compliance and anti-money laundering.
What changes on 10 July 2027?
Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 applies from 10 July 2027. For football agents and professional football clubs it applies only from 10 July 2029. Directive (EU) 2024/1640 must be transposed by 10 July 2027 at the latest, with earlier dates for a few articles. Directive (EU) 2015/849 is repealed on that same date.
A European supervisor joins the system. Regulation (EU) 2024/1620 sets up the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Authority, with its seat in Frankfurt am Main. That regulation has applied since 1 July 2025. The first selection procedure for direct supervision starts by 1 July 2027 at the latest.
The fine ceilings rise with it. Article 55 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640 obliges the member states to provide maximum fines of at least twice the benefit derived from the breach, or at least 1 000 000 euro. For credit institutions and financial institutions that same article requires at least 10 000 000 euro. For a legal person it also sets ten per cent of total annual turnover.
Frequently asked questions
Who supervises an accountant or a notary in Belgium?
The Institute for Tax Advisors and Accountants supervises the certified accountants and tax advisers, and the National Chamber of Notaries supervises the notaries. Article 85, § 1, of the Law of 18 September 2017 divides supervision category by category. For statutory auditors the supervisor is the College of Supervision of Auditors, and for judicial officers it is the National Chamber of Judicial Officers.
How high is the administrative fine under the Belgian AML law?
Up to 5 000 000 euro for the entities in article 5, § 1, 1° to 22°. If ten per cent of the annual net turnover of the last financial year is higher, that percentage applies to a legal person instead. For the entities in 23° to 33° the ceiling is 1 250 000 euro. If the breach produced a profit or avoided a loss, the maximum may be raised to twice that amount.
Can a director be fined personally?
Yes. Article 132, § 1, allows the administrative fine to be imposed on the responsible members of the statutory governing body, of the management committee or of senior management. The UBO register carries a separate rule. Article 132, § 6, allows the Minister of Finance to fine the directors between 250 and 50 000 euro. That applies when they fail to comply with article 1:35 of the Code of Companies and Associations.
What changes for supervision on 10 July 2027?
From 10 July 2027 Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 applies and Directive (EU) 2024/1640 must be transposed. Regulation (EU) 2024/1620 has already set up the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Authority, with its seat in Frankfurt am Main. That regulation has applied since 1 July 2025. The first selection procedure for direct supervision starts by 1 July 2027 at the latest.