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Bulgaria Makes Progress in Financial Inclusion, Crime Prevention

In a significant step towards strengthening its financial system, Bulgaria has made progress in addressing technical compliance deficiencies identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The country’s efforts have led to upgrades in several key areas, including measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

Progress in AML/CFT Measures

According to a recent report by the FATF, Bulgaria has demonstrated improvement in its implementation of anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures. Specifically:

Recommendations 2, 12, 18, 22, 25, 26, and 27 have been upgraded from partially compliant to largely compliant.
Recommendations 14, 32, and 33 have been upgraded from partially compliant to compliant.

Strengthening Financial Inclusion

The report highlights Bulgaria’s progress in strengthening its financial inclusion measures, which is expected to reduce the country’s vulnerability to financial crime. The FATF notes that the country has made significant strides in improving its AML/CFT system, including:

Enhancing customer due diligence requirements
Implementing effective procedures for reporting suspicious transactions

Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

The Bulgarian government has also demonstrated a commitment to combating money laundering and terrorist financing, with several high-profile cases being prosecuted in recent years. This has led to increased confidence among international partners and stakeholders that the country is taking concrete steps to address these issues.

Ongoing Assessment

The FATF’s report comes as part of an ongoing assessment of Bulgaria’s AML/CFT system, which began in 2021. The organization conducts peer reviews of each member country on a regular basis to assess levels of implementation of its recommendations.

Conclusion

Bulgaria’s progress in strengthening its financial inclusion and crime prevention measures is seen as a significant achievement for the country, which has faced challenges in this area in the past. The country’s efforts are expected to have a positive impact not only domestically but also regionally and globally, as it works towards achieving greater financial stability and security.

Bulgaria’s measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing
Mutual Evaluation of Bulgaria