Financial Crime World

Andorra Makes Progress in Fighting Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

International Monitoring Body Praises Andorra’s Efforts

A recent follow-up report published by MONEYVAL, an international body that monitors compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) standards, highlights significant progress made by Andorra in improving its measures against money laundering and terrorist financing. Specifically, the non-profit sector has seen notable improvements.

Progress on Shortcomings

The report acknowledges Andorra’s efforts to address several shortcomings identified in a 2017 evaluation:

  • Risk Assessment: Andorra’s risk assessment of the non-profit sector has been significantly improved.
  • Supervision and Regulation: The country’s supervision and regulation have also seen substantial progress.

As a result, MONEYVAL has upgraded Andorra’s compliance rating with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendation on non-profit organizations from “partially compliant” to “largely compliant.”

Challenges Remain

While Andorra has made significant strides, challenges persist:

  • Virtual Assets: The country’s implementation of new international requirements for virtual assets has been downgraded from “compliant” to “partially compliant.”
  • Minor Deficiencies: Andorra still has minor deficiencies in implementing 28 out of 40 FATF recommendations.

Future Progress

MONEYVAL will require Andorra to provide further progress reports on strengthening its AML/CFT measures within one year. With this development, Andorra has achieved full compliance with nine out of 40 FATF recommendations and retains “largely compliant” ratings for 28 recommendations, while three remain “partially compliant.” The country’s progress demonstrates a commitment to enhancing its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism framework.

Key Takeaways

  • Andorra has made significant progress in improving its measures against money laundering and terrorist financing.
  • The non-profit sector has seen notable improvements in risk assessment and supervision and regulation.
  • Challenges remain, including implementation of new international requirements for virtual assets and minor deficiencies in implementing FATF recommendations.
  • MONEYVAL will require further progress reports from Andorra within one year.