Financial Crime World

Bulgaria Urged to Improve Fight Against Financial Crime

The Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body, MONEYVAL, has called on Bulgaria to strengthen its efforts to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism. In a comprehensive report published today, MONEYVAL assessed Bulgaria’s level of compliance with international standards and identified areas that require improvement.

Assessment Highlights

  • Bulgaria achieved a moderate level of effectiveness in several areas, including:
    • Risk assessment
    • Domestic coordination
    • Investigation and prosecution of terrorism financing cases
  • However, it fell short in other key areas, such as:
    • Use of financial intelligence
    • Investigations and prosecutions of money laundering cases
    • Confiscation of criminal proceeds
    • Prevention of misuse of legal persons and arrangements

Recommendations for Improvement

  • Improve the use of financial intelligence, investigation, and prosecution of money laundering cases
  • Enhance risk-based supervision or monitoring of high-risk non-profit organizations
  • Conduct comprehensive analysis of vulnerabilities in non-profit sectors
  • Take a more systematic approach to investigate terrorism-related financing
  • Improve national mechanism for implementing targeted financial sanctions

Challenges and Concerns

  • Limited understanding of terrorism financing risks
  • Lack of technical tools for inter-agency cooperation between law enforcement agencies
  • Low number of money laundering investigations, prosecutions, and convictions
  • Criminal sanctions not commensurate with identified money laundering risks
  • Absence of measures to prevent criminals from entering certain markets (e.g. real estate brokers, trusts, company service providers)
  • Significant concerns regarding accuracy of information held in registers and by obliged entities

International Cooperation

  • Bulgaria provides generally timely and constructive assistance across international cooperation requests, including mutual legal assistance

Overall, the report concludes that while Bulgaria has made some progress in combating financial crime, there are still significant areas for improvement. MONEYVAL urges the country to take urgent action to address these issues and strengthen its efforts to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism.