According to a recent PwC survey, efforts to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (collectively referred to as ‘AML’) are becoming more challenging due to ever more sophisticated, digitally driven and cross-border threats.
PwC’s EMEA AML Survey 2026 found that across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the AML environment is entering a new phase. For example, the EU’s 2024 AML package has created a whole new operational and supervisory framework and reshaped compliance, while across the EMEA region regulatory expectations are intensifying and diverging.
As a result, businesses across Ireland’s diverse banking, insurance, asset management, payments and asset servicing sectors are having to navigate an increase in regulatory complexity, operational demands and compliance pressures.
The challenge is no longer just about interpreting regulatory change. It is also about building scalable AML frameworks that can absorb rising cost, capacity and operational pressure while evidencing effectiveness in practice.
Readiness remains a critical concern. In Ireland, 40% of financial institutions expect to be fully compliant with the EU AML package, while only around one third of financial institutions across the EU have the same expectation. This leaves a majority of such businesses in Ireland and Europe unlikely to meet key compliance milestones on time.
Only 27% of Irish financial institutions have completed both a detailed analysis and an impact assessment of the EU AML package, with even slower progress reported across the rest of the EU.
Across the EU, customer due diligence (CDD) has emerged as the primary pressure point.
For all survey respondents, technology is widely seen as a key lever for improving AML effectiveness.
