Bulgaria Makes Strides in Combating Financial Terrorism, Says MONEYVAL Report

Improved Measures to Combat Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism

Strasbourg, May 28, 2024 - Bulgaria has made significant progress in its efforts to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, according to a follow-up report released by MONEYVAL (Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism), a monitoring body of the Council of Europe.

Compliant with 27 out of 40 FATF Recommendations

The report found that Bulgaria has improved its compliance with ten out of 40 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations, including those on:

• National cooperation and coordination
• Politically exposed persons
• Money or value transfer services
• Internal controls
• Foreign branches and subsidiaries

Bulgaria was previously rated “partially compliant” for these areas but has now been upgraded to “largely compliant”.

Minor Deficiencies Remain

While Bulgaria has made progress, there are still minor deficiencies in some areas, including:

• Correspondent banking
• New technologies

MONEYVAL’s Task and Recommendations

MONEYVAL has tasked Bulgaria to report back within the next year on its progress in strengthening its implementation of measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

Bulgaria currently complies or is largely compliant with 27 out of 40 FATF Recommendations, while partially complying with 13 others. There are no recommendations on which Bulgaria is non-compliant.

MONEYVAL’s Evaluation and Recommendations

MONEYVAL evaluates 33 states and territories and makes recommendations for necessary improvements to combat money laundering, the financing of terrorism, and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The organization is entrusted with assessing compliance with international standards to counter these threats.