Financial Crime World

Albania Takes Steps to Strengthen Financial Compliance, Improves Rating in Money Laundering Fight

Albania Makes Significant Progress in Fighting Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Tirana - Albania has made significant improvements in its fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, earning upgraded ratings from the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body MONEYVAL. The country’s enhanced efforts have led to better compliance with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Key Findings of the MONEYVAL Report

  • Albania has demonstrated good progress in addressing technical deficiencies and improving its measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
  • The country has upgraded its ratings from “partially compliant” to “largely compliant” in two areas: transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons, and regulation and supervision of financial institutions.
  • Albania has also improved its mutual legal assistance (MLA) regarding freezing of assets and confiscation, upgrading its rating from “partially compliant” to “compliant”.

Progress Made by Albania

  • Adopting a law on the beneficial ownership register, which provides the necessary mechanism to obtain accurate and up-to-date information.
  • Enhancing legislation to ensure the accuracy of basic information of legal persons submitted to the Commercial Register.
  • Introducing new sanctions for non-compliance with registration requirements.
  • Preventing criminals and their associates from holding significant or controlling interests or management functions in licencing of non-banking financial institutions.

Areas for Improvement

  • Ensuring that sanctions for non-compliance are proportionate.
  • Improving the implementation of 29 recommendations where Albania has been found “largely compliant”.
  • Addressing minor deficiencies in the implementation of four recommendations relating to targeted financial sanctions on proliferation financing, new technologies, transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements, and 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 progress in two years’ time. The full report can be accessed on the MONEYVAL website.