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EU governments and the European Parliament in the early hours of Wednesday reached a provisional agreement on a framework governing a planned EU-wide anti-money laundering supervisor.

The Anti-Money Laundering Authority, also known as AMLA, will from 2026 onward directly supervise up to 40 of the bloc’s riskiest cross-border financial institutions, have power to impose civil penalties for AML violations, serve as a coordination hub for national financial intelligence units and “monitor” compliance with financial embargos by companies under its purview.

The Council of the EU, which represents the bloc’s 27 national governments, said that under the deal reached with lawmakers Wednesday, AMLA will be led by an executive board composed of a chair and five “independent” directors. The agency will also serve as a whistleblowing hub for the financial sector and maintain a database of information relevant to AML supervision.

The Council and Parliament will continue negotiations on the location of the new agency Monday, with talks expected to run into the new year. Nine countries—Belgium, Germany, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Austria—have applied to host the AMLA.