Financial Crime World

Moldova’s Financial Institution Compliance Officer Role Under Scrutiny: Progress Made, But More Needed

In its latest follow-up report, the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) has praised the Republic of Moldova for strengthening its legal and institutional framework to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The country has made progress in addressing most of the technical compliance deficiencies impacting the application of targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and its financing.

Challenges Remain in Addressing Technical Compliance Deficiencies

However, MONEYVAL notes that Moldova still faces significant challenges in addressing technical compliance deficiencies, particularly with regards to virtual assets and service providers. The country’s compliance rating has been downgraded to “Partially Compliant” in this area due to limited progress in remedying shortcomings affecting the application of FATF standards on virtual assets and service providers.

Key Recommendations for Improvement

To bring its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems in line with international standards, Moldova still needs to address six key recommendations, including those related to:

  • Virtual assets
  • Service providers

MONEYVAL urges the Moldovan authorities to take immediate action to address these shortcomings by June 2025.

Current Compliance Rating

Currently, Moldova is rated as:

  • Compliant on nine FATF recommendations
  • Largely Compliant on 25
  • Partially Compliant on six
  • None of the recommendations are assessed as non-compliant

The country remains in enhanced follow-up and is expected to report back to MONEYVAL within one year.

About MONEYVAL

MONEYVAL is a monitoring body tasked with evaluating compliance with international standards for combating money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing. The organization evaluates 33 states and territories and makes recommendations to national authorities to improve their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems.