Financial Crime World

ALBANIA BOOSTS FINANCIAL SANCTIONS REGULATIONS, SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN AML/CFT FRAMEWORK

Albania has made significant progress in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, earning upgraded ratings from the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body MONEYVAL. The country’s efforts have resulted in improved compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, according to MONEYVAL’s latest follow-up report.

Key Areas of Improvement

  • Transparency and Beneficial Ownership: Albania has demonstrated improvement in this area by establishing a beneficial ownership register and introducing enhanced legislation to ensure accurate basic information of legal persons submitted to the Commercial Register.
  • Regulation and Supervision of Financial Institutions: The country has strengthened its regulation and supervision of financial institutions, including non-banking financial institutions, to prevent criminals from holding significant or controlling interests.
  • Mutual Legal Assistance: Albania has established mechanisms for executing foreign confiscation orders and providing assistance for non-conviction-based confiscation.

Ratings Upgrade

Albania’s ratings have been upgraded from “partially compliant” to “largely compliant” in several areas, including:

  • Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons
  • Regulation and supervision of financial institutions
  • Mutual legal assistance regarding freezing of assets and confiscation

Ongoing Efforts

While Albania still faces minor deficiencies in implementing 29 FATF Recommendations, it has achieved full compliance with seven recommendations. The country remains “partially compliant” with four recommendations, including those related to:

  • Targeted financial sanctions on proliferation financing
  • New technologies
  • Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements
  • Supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions

Next Steps

Albania will remain under MONEYVAL’s enhanced follow-up and is expected to report back on its progress in strengthening its implementation of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures in two years’ time.