Financial Crime World

Albania’s AML and CFT Regulatory Requirements Meet International Standards, Says MONEYVAL Report

Albania has made significant progress in strengthening its transparency in legal arrangements and improving regulation and supervision of non-financial institutions, according to a recent report by the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL).

Improved Compliance with International Standards

The report concludes that Albania has improved its compliance with the Financial Action Task Force’s Recommendations 25 (transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements) and 28 (regulation and supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions). As a result, the country has been re-rated on these two recommendations from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant.

Key Measures Taken by Albania

The report highlights several key measures taken by Albania to address shortcomings identified in its 2018 Mutual Evaluation Report. These include:

  • Subjecting trustees to AML/ CFT requirements
  • Streamlining access to beneficial ownership information for competent authorities
  • Improving regulation and supervision of notaries and real estate agents
    • The licensing authority for notaries is now empowered to revoke licenses for infringement of AML/CFT legislation
    • Risk-based supervision has been introduced over real estate agents

Current Compliance Status

As a result of these efforts, Albania currently has:

  • 6 Recommendations rated Compliant
  • 31 Recommendations rated Largely Compliant
  • 2 Recommendations rated Partially Compliant
  • 1 Recommendation Not Applicable

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

About MONEYVAL

MONEYVAL, a monitoring body of the Council of Europe, evaluates the anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing systems of 33 states and territories and makes recommendations to national authorities for necessary improvements. The organization is tasked with assessing compliance with principal international standards to counter money laundering, the financing of terrorism, and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.