CNUE News, 29 September 2025
European Notaries Strengthen AML Expertise at Madrid Seminar under EL@N II Project
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On 25 September 2025, the Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE), in cooperation with the Spanish General Council of Notaries, organised a high-level training seminar in Madrid as part of the EL@N II project, co-funded by the European Commission. The event focused on anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) obligations, a priority area for the European notarial profession.
Held at the Council of Notaries of Madrid, the seminar brought together experts from Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), law enforcement authorities, and the notarial sector. Through a combination of keynote presentations and practical case studies, participants explored the latest trends, risks, and compliance strategies in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The programme featured interventions from:
- Concepción Barrio del Olmo, President of the Spanish General Council of Notaries, and Cosita Delvaux, President of the CNUE, who opened the session by underlining the notarial profession’s commitment to safeguarding the integrity of financial transactions.
- Pedro Comín Rodríguez, Director of the Spanish FIU (SEPBLAC), who highlighted the importance of timely reporting of suspicious transactions.
- Pedro Galindo Gil, Director of the Spanish Centralised Prevention Body, who presented the notarial AML system that has processed over 400,000 information requests from authorities in the past two decades, demonstrating its crucial role in preventing illicit financial flows.
- Experts from law enforcement, such as Commander Mario García García of the Spanish Civil Guard, who addressed emerging indicators of terrorist financing.
- Practitioners and technical specialists who discussed challenges linked to real estate transactions and the growing impact of cryptoassets on AML compliance.
The seminar concluded with remarks from Juan Kutz Azqueta, Spanish notary and Chair of the CNUE AML Working Group, who stressed the need for continuous training and cross-border cooperation to maintain high standards of vigilance across Europe.
This initiative is part of EL@N II, a two-year EU co-funded project designed to enhance the skills of European notaries through a mix of face-to-face seminars and online training modules. Covering topics such as AML/CFT, successions law, and cross-border enforcement of authentic acts, EL@N II aims to equip notaries with the tools needed to respond to evolving legal and technological challenges.
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“The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing is a shared responsibility. Notaries, as public officers, play a key role in ensuring the transparency and security of legal transactions across Europe. Through projects like EL@N II, we are strengthening our capacity to respond to evolving risks and to cooperate effectively at the European level.”, Cosita Delvaux, President of the CNUE