AMLR 2027 — what changes for accounting firms

In July 2027 the EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR) starts to apply. For Swedish accounting firms it is the biggest shift in AML law since the current Anti-Money Laundering Act: the core obligations will no longer come from Swedish legislation implementing a directive, but directly from an EU regulation — the same text, applied the same way, in every member state. This article walks through the changes that will be felt most in day-to-day firm work, and what is worth doing during 2026.

One rulebook, less room for interpretation

The practical consequence of a regulation is precision. Where the current framework leaves firms to interpret what “sufficient” customer due diligence means, AMLR spells out what information must be collected, verified and kept — for identity, for beneficial ownership, for the purpose of the business relationship. Guidance that today differs between trade bodies and supervisors is replaced by technical standards issued centrally. For well-organised firms this is good news: the target stops moving. For firms whose client files live in spreadsheets and binders, the gap to close becomes harder to explain away.

The changes firms will notice first

Three areas stand out. Beneficial ownership: the regulation fixes the ownership threshold at 25 per cent and is explicit that control can also be exercised through other means — and it expects the firm’s own investigation, not a printout from a register. Customer due diligence: the required data points and verification steps become more prescriptive, including for the simplified measures many firms apply to their small, low-risk clients. Documentation: records must show not only what was collected but how conclusions were reached, and be retrievable for five years after the relationship ends.

Sharper supervision behind the rules

The rulebook gets an enforcement structure to match. The new EU authority AMLA coordinates supervision across the union and issues the technical standards that fill in the regulation’s detail; national supervisors — for Swedish accounting firms, the county administrative boards — remain the ones who inspect, but against a common EU yardstick and with higher sanction ceilings behind them. The pattern from other harmonised regimes is familiar: the first years of supervision under a new rulebook set the tone, and firms inspected early are measured against the letter of the new rules.

How to use the time until July 2027

Twelve months is enough — if it is used. Run a gap analysis of the current client files against the regulation’s due-diligence requirements rather than today’s practice. Move the files into one structured system while there is calendar room to do it client by client. Refresh the business-wide risk assessment so classifications rest on current facts. And train the people who meet clients, since the questions they must ask are becoming more specific. Vidd is built for exactly this transition: structured client files, beneficial-ownership investigation, risk classification and a complete audit trail in one place — so that July 2027 is a date, not a deadline crisis.