Croatia Boosts Efforts to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
Croatia has taken significant steps forward in strengthening its preventive framework to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, according to a recent follow-up report by the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL).
Progress in Compliance with FATF Recommendations
The report highlights Croatia’s progress in improving its level of compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations, which cover areas such as:
- Assessing risks
- National cooperation and coordination
- Customer due diligence
- Correspondent banking
- New technologies
Measures Taken to Enhance Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Systems
Since December 2021, Croatia has taken numerous measures to enhance its anti-money laundering and terrorist financing systems. These include:
- Addressing significant shortcomings in customer due diligence measures
- Improving third-party reliance and correspondent banking practices
- Bringing external accountants under the scope of AML/CFT obligations
- Introducing a disclosure system for cash couriers
- Reinforcing international cooperation powers
National Action Plan and Registration Regime
The report notes improvements in the adoption of a national action plan, registration regime, fit-and-proper requirements for virtual asset service providers (VASPs), beneficial ownership registers, access to information on legal persons, and sanctions for non-compliance with transparency requirements.
Progress and Remaining Shortcomings
While some recommendations remain partially compliant, Croatia has made significant progress in addressing technical compliance shortcomings identified in its 2021 Mutual Evaluation Report. The country now has:
- Five recommendations rated Compliant
- 23 recommendations rated Largely Compliant
- 12 recommendations rated Partially Compliant
Next Steps and Monitoring
Croatia remains under MONEYVAL’s enhanced follow-up procedure and is expected to report back on further progress by December 2024.
About MONEYVAL
The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) is a monitoring body of the Council of Europe tasked with assessing compliance with international standards to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. MONEYVAL evaluates 33 states and territories and makes recommendations to national authorities for necessary improvements to their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems.