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Bulgaria Strengthens Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Measures, Says Council of Europe Body

The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) has released a follow-up report on Bulgaria’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. According to the report, Bulgaria has made significant improvements in its preventive framework, demonstrating compliance with ten out of the 40 Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Recommendations.

Improvements and Progress

Since the adoption of MONEYVAL’s mutual evaluation report in May 2022, Bulgaria has taken numerous steps to strengthen its anti-money laundering and combatting terrorist financing systems. The country is now compliant with:

• Recommendation 14 on money or value transfer services
• Recommendation 32 on cash couriers

Additionally, Bulgaria has seen an upgrade from “partially compliant” to “largely compliant” for other areas.

Remaining Challenges

Bulgaria reported some progress on Recommendations 13 on correspondent banking and 15 on new technologies, but its rating remained “partially compliant”. The country is currently rated as:

• “Compliant or largely compliant” with 27 out of the 40 applicable FATF Recommendations
• “Partially compliant” with 13

Next Steps

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

About MONEYVAL

The Committee of Experts is a monitoring body of the Council of Europe responsible for assessing compliance with international standards against money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing. MONEYVAL evaluates 33 states and territories and makes recommendations to national authorities for necessary improvements.

Access the Full Report

The full report can be accessed at [link to the report].