Financial Crime World

Bulgaria Urged to Strengthen Financial Crimes Measures by Moneyval

Strasbourg - The Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body, Moneyval, has issued a report calling on Bulgaria to bolster its financial crimes measures. The findings, published on [Current Date], highlight the need for improvement in several areas:

Moneyval’s Key Recommendations for Bulgaria

  1. Utilization of financial intelligence

    • Moneyval stresses the importance of enhanced access to comprehensive financial intelligence to boost investigation capabilities and prevent financial crimes.

  2. Improved investigation capabilities

    • Bulgarian authorities should fortify their capacity to carry out thorough, prompt, and effective investigations, with a focus on money laundering and terrorism financing.

  3. Increased prosecution and conviction rates

    • Moneyval recognizes progress made in this area but insists on the necessity of raising the number and success rate of financial crimes prosecutions and convictions.

  4. Strengthened confiscation regime

    • Improvements in the confiscation of illegal assets are crucial due to inconsistent implementation and insufficient use of preventive measures.

  5. Expanded international cooperation

    • Moneyval encourages Bulgarian authorities to boost cooperation with foreign counterparts to better detect and prevent cross-border financial crimes.

moneyval’s Assessment and Findings

Moneyval underwent a comprehensive assessment of Bulgaria using the Recommendations on Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT). After the evaluation, several areas for development were identified:

Financial Intelligence

Moneyval called for more extensive use of financial intelligence to improve the investigation process and aid in financial crimes prevention.

Investigation Capabilities

Bulgarian authorities are encouraged to enhance their investigative capabilities, with a focus on financial crimes such as money laundering and terrorism financing.

Prosecution and Conviction Rates

Moneyval acknowledges advances in prosecution and conviction rates but calls for more action to increase results related to financial crimes.

Confiscations Regime

Moneyval emphasized the need for improvements in the confiscation of criminal assets, addressing inconsistent implementation and inadequate application of preventive measures.

International Cooperation

Moneyval reminded Bulgarian authorities of the importance of expanding international cooperation efforts to effectively tackle cross-border financial crimes.

Context: Bulgaria’s Role in European Financial Crimes

The Moneyval report arrives as financial crimes pose a continual challenge to Bulgaria and the European Union. According to Europol’s European Serious and Organized Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) 2022, Bulgaria is identified as a significant transit country for drug trafficking, cybercrime, and money laundering.

Bulgarian Response to the Report

The Bulgarian Ministry of Interior has stated that steps will be taken to adopt Moneyval’s recommendations expeditiously. The Ministry expect to submit a national action plan outlining their plans to address the weaknesses and enhance Bulgaria’s AML/CFT framework.