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Albania Fails to Meet Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Compliance Standards
Tirana, Albania - A recent report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has revealed that Albania falls short in implementing key anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) measures.
Key Findings of the FATF Report
According to the report, Albania scored poorly in several areas, including:
- Inadequate risk assessment and application of the risk-based approach
- Insufficient national cooperation and coordination between law enforcement agencies
- Lack of effective confiscation and provisional measures to prevent asset laundering
- Inadequate customer due diligence practices by financial institutions
Weaknesses in Albania’s AML/CFT Regime
The FATF report highlighted several specific weaknesses in Albania’s AML/CFT regime, including:
• National Cooperation and Coordination: Albania was found to be not compliant with regards to national cooperation and coordination between law enforcement agencies. • Confiscation and Provisional Measures: The country was also found to be not compliant with regards to confiscation and provisional measures to prevent asset laundering. • Customer Due Diligence: Albania’s customer due diligence practices were found to be inadequate, resulting in a non-compliant rating.
Progress Made by Albania
Despite these weaknesses, the FATF report noted that Albania has made some progress in recent years, including:
- Strengthening its regulatory framework
- Improving the effectiveness of its financial intelligence unit
Recommendations for Improvement
The FATF report urged Albania’s authorities to take immediate action to address these weaknesses and implement a comprehensive AML/CFT strategy. This includes:
- Improving national cooperation and coordination between law enforcement agencies
- Enhancing customer due diligence practices by financial institutions
- Strengthening confiscation and provisional measures to prevent asset laundering
FATF Compliance Ratings
The report assigned the following ratings to Albania’s AML/CFT compliance:
| Rating | Area |
|---|---|
| Largely Compliant (LC) | R.1 - Assessing risk & applying risk-based approach, R.3 - Money laundering offence, R.8 - Non-profit organisations, R.9 - Financial institution secrecy laws, R.11 - Record keeping, R.12 - Politically exposed persons, R.13 - Correspondent banking, R.16 - Wire transfers, R.18 - Internal controls and foreign branches and subsidiaries, R.20 - Reporting of suspicious transactions, R.22 - DNFBPs: Customer due diligence, R.23 - DNFBPs: Other measures, R.25 - Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements, R.27 - Powers of supervisors, R.28 - Regulation and supervision of DNFBPs, R.29 - Financial intelligence units, R.31 - Powers of law enforcement and investigative authorities, R.32 - Cash couriers, R.33 - Statistics, R.34 - Guidance and feedback, R.35- Sanctions, R.36 - International instruments, R.37 - Mutual legal assistance |
| Partially Compliant (PC) | R.6 - Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism & terrorist financing, R.7 - Targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation, R.14 - Money or value transfer services, R.15 - New technologies, R.19 - Higher-risk countries, R.21 - Tipping-off and confidentiality, R.24 - Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons, R.26 - Regulation and supervision of financial institutions, R.30 - Responsibilities of law enforcement and investigative authorities, R.38 - Mutual legal assistance: freezing and confiscation |
| Not Compliant (NC) | R.2 - National cooperation and coordination, R.4 - Confiscation and provisional measures, R.10 - Customer due diligence |
The FATF compliance ratings are based on a scale of C (Compliant), LC (Largely compliant), PC (Partially compliant), NC (Not compliant).