Yachting, money laundering and anti-terrorist financing – The new EU framework and compliance obligations

The yachting sector remains under heightened scrutiny from authorities seeking to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT) risks. The European Union has adopted a new regulatory framework, directly applicable from 10 July 2027, which will extend due diligence obligations to professionals involved in the sale of yachts and other high-value vessels.

This article kicks off a three-part series setting out the factual background, the architecture of the new EU AML/CFT package, and the key compliance obligations applicable to yachting professionals, updated to reflect institutional developments since June 2025.

Stephenson Harwood is an international full-service firm in the yachting and shipping industry. Our teams have unparalleled experience in dealing with the complexity of international sanctions and compliance obligations in the context of high value and cross border transactions.
  

1. A litigation landscape confirming the sector’s sensitivity

Several recent cases illustrate the growing attention authorities are paying to the yachting sector. In France, the press reported the auction, on 27 March 2025, of a yacht worth €10 million by the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets (Agrasc), for the benefit of the State; the supposed Belarusian owner was implicated — though not yet convicted — in an investigation on charges of criminal conspiracy and aggravated money laundering.

In the United States, a case involving a vessel seized due to suspected links with a sanctioned individual confirmed the authorities’ ability to identify beneficial owners of high-value assets, including where held through a Monegasque company.

More recently, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled, on 21 May 2026 (joined cases C-428/24 and C-476/24), that the freezing of the sailing yacht Sailing Yacht A, allegedly beneficially owned by a sanctioned Russian businessman, remains valid — confirming the judicial resilience of asset-freezing measures tied to international sanctions. It should be noted that this case, held primarily before the Italian authorities who imposed the asset-freezing measures, was brought before the Court of Justice by the company which the yacht belongs to, claiming that the persons subject to sanctions had no power to dispose of the assets subject to freezing or any control over their management. However, the Court of Justice considered that assets can be regarded as belonging to or being under the control of the settlor or the beneficiary of a trust, where those persons have power to use, benefit from or dispose of those resources or to have influence over them and over the decisions made by the trustee in relation to them. In that regard, indications that assets belong to or are controlled by the beneficiary or the settlor may be inferred from factual circumstances or from the presence of needlessly complex legal structures.
   

2. The architecture of the new EU AML/CFT package

On 19 June 2024, the European Union published in the Official Journal a new legislative package strengthening its AML/CFT framework, comprising three instruments:

• a directive (EU) 2024/1640 on the mechanisms to be put in place by Member States, amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937 and repealing Directive (EU) 2015/849;

• a regulation (EU) 2024/1624, referred to as the “Regulation”, aimed at strengthening AML/CFT obligations; and

• a regulation (EU) 2024/1620 establishing the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (“AMLA”).

The use of a directly applicable regulation is a novelty in this area, traditionally governed by directives, intended to address a fragmented approach along national lines and to achieve uniform application within the internal market. The Regulation defines, in its Annex IV, the list of high-value goods (“High-Value Goods”), including “watercraft of a price exceeding EUR 7,500,000 or the equivalent in national currency” (the “High-Value Watercraft”).
  

3. A now-operational European governance body: AMLA

The AMLA, headquartered in Frankfurt and chaired by Bruna Szego, has become fully operational. Three milestones deserve mention: the January 2026 transfer of all AML/CFT mandates previously exercised by the European Banking Authority; the publication, on 4 February 2026, of AMLA’s first Single Programming Document for 2026-2028; and the launch, on 9 February 2026, of three public consultations on draft regulatory technical standards (“RTS”) covering customer due diligence measures, thresholds applicable to business relationships and occasional transactions, and — for the non-financial sector — pecuniary sanctions and administrative measures.

Of these three RTS, the one on pecuniary sanctions, administrative measures and periodic penalty payments (Article 53(10) of Directive (EU) 2024/1640) has since been finalised. Following its consultation, which closed on 9 March 2026 and drew 88 valid responses (70% from the non-financial sector), AMLA published its Final Report setting out the definitive text. The RTS establishes a four-tier scale for classifying the gravity of AML/CFT breaches (categories one to four, based on indicators such as duration, repetition, impact and whether the breach facilitated criminal activity), sets out the criteria supervisors must weigh when calibrating pecuniary sanctions or applying the more severe administrative measures, including restriction of business, withdrawal or suspension of authorisation, or a change in governance structure, and introduces, for the first time at EU level, a common methodology for periodic penalty payments intended to compel compliance, including a right to be heard and a five-year limitation period for their collection. Non-financial sector respondents — including lawyers, notaries, auditors and other intermediary professionals within the AML/CFT perimeter — raised concerns during the consultation about the proportionality of applying financial-sector concepts to their activities and about potential tension between a cooperation-based aggravating factor and the privilege against self-incrimination; AMLA revised the text to clarify its application to the non-financial sector while preserving the substance of the framework. The RTS will next be submitted to the European Commission for adoption and published in the Official Journal; once adopted, it will apply from 10 July 2027 (10 July 2029 for football clubs and agents), in line with the timetable for the wider package. The other two RTS — on customer due diligence and on thresholds for business relationships and occasional transactions, both consulted on until 8 May 2026, remained pending finalisation as at the date of this note.

These standards will bind national supervisory authorities, including the ACPR in France, which retains its supervisory and sanctioning powers but will now have to apply this harmonised body of rules. Direct AMLA supervision of certain high-risk cross-border institutions is due to begin in 2028, while the Single Rulebook will apply uniformly across all 27 Member States from 10 July 2027.
  

4. General compliance obligations applicable to yachting professionals

The Regulation establishes a new list of Obliged Entities, which now includes:

• persons trading, as a regular or principal professional activity, in high-value goods (the “Professional Traders”); and

• persons storing, trading or acting as intermediaries in the trade of cultural goods and high-value goods within free zones and customs warehouses, where the value of the transaction reaches at least €10,000 (the “Intermediaries in the Trade of High-Value Goods”).

These persons will be subject to the AML/CFT requirements applicable to all Obliged Entities, including inter alia:

• notifying the competent authority in their home Member State of their intention, where applicable, to carry out their activity in another Member State;

• implementing internal policies, procedures and controls aimed at identifying, assessing and managing AML/CFT risks, conducting customer due diligence, reporting suspicious transactions, and training staff;

• establishing adequate compliance governance, including a member of senior management responsible for AML/CFT obligations and a compliance officer with sufficient authority and resources;

• setting up an internal whistleblowing system — except where the Obliged Entity is a natural person or a legal entity operated by a single natural person.

The finalised RTS on pecuniary sanctions described in Section 3 above is directly relevant to Professional Traders and Intermediaries in the Trade of High-Value Goods: as non-financial sector Obliged Entities, they will be assessed and, where relevant, sanctioned under this same four-tier framework once it enters into application.
 

5. An anticipatory trend also confirmed under French law

French law no. 2025-532 of 13 June 2025 aimed at getting France out of the trap of drug trafficking, extends, from 10 July 2027, AML/CFT obligations under Article L. 561-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code to persons who habitually and primarily engage in the sale or rental of pleasure boats (“navires de plaisance”), except for manufacturers and importers of pleasure boats marketed through a distributor or dealer, when the sale, resale, or rental price of the pleasure boat exceeds a threshold set by decree (10° ter). The decree has not been published yet.

This extension anticipates the entry into application, on 10 July 2027, of the EU regime on “high-value goods” and confirms a trend of progressive transposition that is also relevant for yachting.

The next note will provide more details on the reporting obligations applicable to yachting professionals and will focus on the regime in force in Monaco.

You will have contacts in the industry who will benefit from reading this, do forward them this article. If you are someone receiving this and not already on our mailing list – make sure you sign up to not miss future updates.