Financial Crime World

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Global Standards for Anti-Money Laundering in Albania Strengthened, Says MONEYVAL Report

TIRANA - Recent Progress in Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

The Republic of Albania has made significant strides in improving its measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT), according to a recent report by MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe’s monitoring body.

Key Improvements

  • Compliance with FATF Recommendations: Albania has improved its compliance with key recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) related to transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements.
  • Regulation and Supervision: The country has also strengthened regulation and supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions.

Additional Measures

Since June 2022, Albania has taken additional measures aimed at addressing important shortcomings, including:

  • Extending AML/CFT requirements to trustees
  • Streamlining access to beneficial ownership information for competent authorities

Regulatory Improvements

The report highlights improvements in regulating and supervising notaries and real estate agents. Specifically:

  • The licensing authority for notaries is now empowered to revoke licenses for infringement of AML/CFT legislation
  • Albania has also introduced risk-based supervision over real estate agents

Progress Towards Compliance

Overall, Albania has made significant progress in addressing most of the technical compliance shortcomings identified in its 2018 Mutual Evaluation Report. According to MONEYVAL, out of the 40 Recommendations:

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

Next Steps

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

About MONEYVAL

MONEYVAL, which evaluates 33 states and territories, makes recommendations to national authorities in respect of necessary improvements to their anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing systems. The committee plays a crucial role in assessing compliance with international standards to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.