ALBANIA IMPROVES COMPLIANCE WITH MONEY LAUNDERING LAWS

TIRANA, ALBANIA - Albania has made significant progress in strengthening its anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing (AML/CFT) system, according to a follow-up report released by the Council of Europe’s MONEYVAL committee.

Progress on Key Recommendations

The MONEYVAL report found that Albania has improved its compliance with two key Financial Action Task Force recommendations:

• Transparency and Beneficial Ownership of Legal Arrangements (Recommendation 25): Albania has taken steps to strengthen transparency and beneficial ownership requirements, resulting in a re-rating from “Partially Compliant” to “Largely Compliant”.
• Regulation and Supervision of Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (Recommendation 28): Albania has implemented risk-based supervision over real estate agents and empowered the licensing authority for notaries to revoke licenses for infringement of AML/CFT legislation, leading to a re-rating from “Partially Compliant” to “Largely Compliant”.

Additional Measures Taken

Albania has taken additional measures since June 2022 to address shortcomings in its AML/CFT system, including:

• Introducing risk-based supervision over real estate agents: This measure aims to improve the regulation and supervision of high-risk businesses.
• Empowering the licensing authority for notaries to revoke licenses for infringement of AML/CFT legislation: This ensures that notaries are held accountable for any non-compliance with AML/CFT regulations.
• Streamlining access to beneficial ownership information for competent authorities: This facilitates the sharing of beneficial ownership information among authorities, enhancing transparency and oversight.

Progress on Technical Compliance Shortcomings

The MONEYVAL report notes that Albania has made progress in addressing most of the technical compliance shortcomings identified in its 2018 Mutual Evaluation Report. Out of the 40 Recommendations:

• 6 Recommendations are rated “Compliant”
• 31 Recommendations are rated “Largely Compliant”
• 2 Recommendations are rated “Partially Compliant” and 1 is Not Applicable

Future Reporting Requirements

Albania is expected to report back to MONEYVAL in two years on further progress made towards strengthening its AML/CFT system.

About the Committee of Experts (MONEYVAL)

The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) is a monitoring body of the Council of Europe that evaluates 33 states and territories for compliance with international standards to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. MONEYVAL makes recommendations to national authorities on necessary improvements to their AML/CFT systems.