Financial Crime World

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Combating Financial Terrorism in Bulgaria: Progress Made, Minor Deficiencies Remain

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A recent report by the Council of Europe’s MONEYVAL Committee concludes that Bulgaria has significantly improved its measures for tackling money laundering and combating financing of terrorism. The follow-up report is a comprehensive assessment of Bulgaria’s progress since the initial mutual evaluation report was adopted in May 2022.

Progress Made

The report highlights Bulgaria’s improvement in complying with 10 Financial Action Task Force’s Recommendations, including:

  • National cooperation and coordination
  • Politically exposed persons
  • Money or value transfer services
  • Internal controls
  • Foreign branches and subsidiaries
  • Designated non-professional business and professions customer due diligence
  • Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements
  • Regulation and supervision of financial institutions
  • Powers of supervisors
  • Cash couriers
  • Statistics

Areas for Improvement

While Bulgaria has made significant progress, minor deficiencies remain for other Recommendations. The country will continue to work closely with MONEYVAL to address these deficiencies and strengthen its implementation of anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism measures.

Compliance with International Standards

In terms of compliance with international standards, Bulgaria’s legislation has been assessed as:

  • Compliant or largely compliant with 27 out of 40 Recommendations
  • Partially compliant with 13 recommendations
  • Fully compliant with none

The report concludes that Bulgaria has made significant strides in combating financial terrorism and will continue to work towards further improvements.

Next Steps

Bulgaria is expected to report back within a year on its progress. The country’s commitment to continued improvement demonstrates its dedication to tackling money laundering and financing of terrorism.