Belgium’s Financial Crime Prevention: A Review of Internal Controls

Introduction

A recent report has evaluated the extent to which Belgium has implemented international standards for preventing financial crimes. The assessment focuses on key areas, including risk assessment and mitigation, national cooperation, and anti-money laundering measures.

Compliance with FATF Recommendations

The report indicates that Belgium is largely compliant with FATF Recommendations 1-3, related to:

• Assessing Risk and Applying a Risk-Based Approach (Recommendation 1)
• National Cooperation and Coordination (Recommendation 2)
• Money Laundering Offenses (Recommendation 3)

This suggests that the country has made significant strides in these areas.

Areas of Compliance

Belgium is also found to be largely compliant with:

• Confiscation and Provisional Measures (Recommendation 4)
• Terrorist Financing Offense (Recommendation 5)
• Targeted Financial Sanctions related to Terrorism and Terrorist Financing (Recommendation 6)

Areas Requiring Improvement

However, there are areas where Belgium requires improvement:

• Transparency and Beneficial Ownership of Legal Persons (Recommendation 24)
  • Issues with transparent and accessible information on beneficial ownership
• Non-Profit Organizations (Recommendation 8)
  • Inadequate regulation and supervision of non-profit organizations
• Regulation and Supervision of Financial Institutions (Recommendation 26)
  • Insufficient attention to regulation and supervision of financial institutions

Conclusion

The assessment concludes that while Belgium has made significant progress in implementing international standards for preventing financial crimes, there are still areas where improvement is needed. Addressing these issues will be crucial to strengthening the country’s anti-money laundering framework and ensuring compliance with FATF Recommendations.