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The EU's proposed methodology for selecting financial institutions for direct supervision by a planned bloc-wide Anti-Money Laundering Authority, or AMLA, is drawing criticism for allegedly focusing too much on large banks over smaller, but potentially far riskier, firms. The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, unveiled a wide-ranging plan in July 2021 to boost the bloc's defenses against illicit finance, at the heart of which lies the AMLA. Beginning in 2026, the new agency will directly oversee a limited number of large financial institutions operating in at least seven EU countries and deemed high-risk by at least four. Smaller lenders...