Financial Crime World

Albania Takes Significant Steps towards Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Strengthening Transparency and Regulation in Albania

TIRANA, ALBANIA - In a major effort to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, Albania has made substantial progress in improving its compliance with international standards. A recent follow-up report by the Council of Europe’s MONEYVAL committee highlights Albania’s significant strides in addressing key shortcomings in its regulation and supervision of non-financial institutions.

Key Improvements

  • Introduced risk-based supervision over real estate agents to ensure effective monitoring of their activities
  • Empowered the licensing authority for notaries to revoke licenses for AML/CFT legislation infringement, strengthening accountability and oversight
  • Streamlined access to beneficial ownership information for competent authorities, enhancing transparency and facilitating effective regulation

These improvements were made in response to technical compliance shortcomings identified in Albania’s 2018 Mutual Evaluation Report. The country’s progress has been recognized by MONEYVAL, with Albania re-rated on two key recommendations from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant.

Progress Towards Compliance

  • Out of the 40 Recommendations assessed by MONEYVAL, Albania currently scores:
    • 6 Recommendations rated as Compliant
    • 31 Recommendations rated as Largely Compliant
    • 2 Recommendations rated as Partially Compliant and 1 Not Applicable

Commitment to Transparency and Cooperation

Albania’s efforts demonstrate a strong commitment to transparency and cooperation with international partners in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. 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 33 states and territories and makes recommendations for necessary improvements to their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems.