Title: Croatia’s Progress in Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: A MONEYVAL Report
According to a recent report by the Council of Europe’s MONEYVAL committee, Croatia has made significant strides in enhancing its Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) framework. These advancements were evaluated against the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Addressing Gaps in AML/CFT Regulations
Since a December 2021 legislative overhaul, Croatia has made considerable progress in several key areas:
- Improved customer due diligence measures
- Strengthened third-party reliance and correspondent banking regulations
- Extended AML/CFT obligations to external accountants
- Implementation of a new cash disclosure system
Other Notable Achievements
The report acknowledges several other advancements:
- Implementation of a national action plan
- Introduction of a registration regime for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs)
- Enhancements to beneficial ownership registers
- Improved legal person information accessibility
- Modifications to non-compliance transparency requirements and sanctions
Current Status of Compliance with FATF Recommendations
MONEYVAL assessed Croatia’s compliance with FATF recommendations as follows:
- 5 Recommendations: Compliant
- 23 Recommendations: Largely Compliant
- 12 Recommendations: Partially Compliant
Croatia has been upgraded from “Partially Compliant” to “Largely Compliant” with recommendations 10, 17, 22, 23, 32, and 40, and from “Partially Compliant” to “Compliant” with recommendation 13.
Ongoing Collaboration
Croatia is expected to report back on further progress to MONEYVAL under an enhanced follow-up procedure by December 2024.
About MONEYVAL
MONEYVAL is the Council of Europe’s organ responsible for assessing the compliance of member states’ AML/CFT and counter-proliferation financing systems with essential international standards. MONEYVAL evaluates 33 states and territories and provides recommendations to improve their AML/CFT and counter-proliferation financing frameworks.
Currently, MONEYVAL’s member states include:
- Albania
- Andorra
- Aruba
- Austria
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Malta
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- the Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- the Russian Federation
- Romania
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
[Insert the link to the report here]