Central Bank deputy governor Derville Rowland is among a shortlist of candidates vying for five executive board positions at the European Union’s new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) in Frankfurt, according to sources.
Ms Rowland, a barrister by background and employee of the Central Bank for the past two decades, was among a whittled-down list of about 10 candidates to be interviewed by the new EU commissioner for financial services Maria Luis Albuquerque in recent weeks, said the sources, who declined to be named.
It is understood that the number of candidates has been tightened since then. The European Commission is now expected put its shortlist of candidates forward for scrutiny by two key European parliamentary committees, the economic and monetary affairs committee and the civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee.
The final five names will also ultimately need political sign-off from the European Council.
It is expected that the five will be appointed before Easter, which takes place this year on April 20th.
EU governments this week appointed veteran Italian central banker Bruna Szego as chair of the new AMLA. She had beaten Marcus Player of Germany, a former president of Financial Action Tax Force global anti-money laundering organisation, and Dutch national Jan Reinder De Carpentier, to secure the role.
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The 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 AMLA but lost out to Germany’s financial capital 11 months ago. The agency is expected to have more than 400 employees by 2027.
A spokeswoman for the Central Bank declined to comment on Ms Rowland’s candidacy.
Ms Rowland has developed a high profile domestically in recent years overseeing the Central Bank’s tracker-mortgage examination and subsequent enforcement actions against the country’s banks. This resulted in seven lenders being fined a combined €279 million for their roles in the overcharging scandal.
She is also ultimately responsible for the Central Bank’s role as competent authority in Ireland for the monitoring and supervision of financial companies’ compliance with EU laws covering anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.
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