Czech Republic Makes Significant Strides in Financing Crime Prevention: Moneyval Report
According to the latest evaluation report from Moneyval, the Czech Republic has shown marked improvement in its fight against financial crimes, including money laundering and terrorist financing.
Moneyval’s Praise for the Czech Republic’s Efforts
The Czech Republic’s progress in addressing previous shortcomings and improving compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards has earned the country praise from Moneyval.
The 2018 report identified several weaknesses in the Czech Republic’s financial crime prevention measures. In response, the Czech authorities strengthened their efforts, leading to significant progress in the following areas:
- Sanctioning regime for breaches of preventative measures
- Reporting obligations
- Non-profit organizations
- Tipping-off
- Compliance of designated non-financial businesses and professions with anti-money laundering (AML) and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (CFT) obligations
Moneyval’s Assessment of the Czech Republic’s Improvements
Moneyval evaluated the various legislative, regulatory, and institutional measures employed by the Czech Republic to enhance its stance on these matters. As a result of these improvements, the following updates have been made to the Czech Republic’s compliance rating:
- Five FATF recommendations: The Czech Republic’s “partially compliant” rating has been upgraded to “largely compliant.”
- An additional recommendation: The Czech Republic’s “partially compliant” rating for one recommendation has been reassessed and moved to “compliant.”
While significant progress has been made, the Czech Republic still needs to take further steps to meet international obligations fully. Some minor loopholes remain in the implementation of 29 FATF recommendations where the Czech Republic is rated “largely compliant.”
Expected Continued Progress
Over the next year, the Czech Republic is expected to demonstrate continued progress in these areas before being re-evaluated by Moneyval.