Armenia’s Progress in Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Praised by MONEYVAL

In a recent report, MONEYVAL, an international organization responsible for assessing countries’ efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, has commended Armenia for its progress in strengthening its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) framework.

Improvements in Key Areas

Armenia’s efforts have led to improvements in two key areas:

• Assessing Risks: MONEYVAL has re-rated Armenia as “largely compliant” on Recommendation 1 (assessing risks), which was previously rated as “partially compliant”.
• Targeted Financial Sanctions Related to Proliferation: The country’s efforts have also led to improvements in Recommendation 7, with a re-rating from “partially compliant” to “largely compliant”.

Upgrades and Remaining Shortcomings

While MONEYVAL welcomed Armenia’s progress in addressing several other areas, including:

• Regulation and Supervision of Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions
• Powers of Law Enforcement and Investigative Authorities

it noted that there are still significant shortcomings. As a result, Recommendations 12 (politically exposed persons), 28 (regulation and supervision of DNFBPs) and 31 (powers of law enforcement and investigative authorities) remain rated as “partially compliant”.

Ongoing Efforts

The report also highlights that some recommendations, including those related to the:

• Criminalization of Terrorism Financing
• Internal Controls

have not changed since Armenia’s previous evaluation in 2015. Consequently, their ratings remain unchanged.

Follow-up and Future Evaluation

MONEYVAL has decided to place Armenia in regular follow-up and will require the country to continue reporting back on its progress every two-and-a-half years to ensure that it continues to strengthen its implementation of AML/CFT measures.