Financial Crime World

Bulgaria Urged to Strengthen Financial Crime Measures by MONEYVAL

27 June 2022, Strasbourg

MONEYVAL’s Criticism of Bulgaria’s Financial Crime Measures

The Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) body, MONEYVAL, has released a report [1] highlighting Bulgaria’s insufficient use of financial intelligence, investigation, and prosecution in combating money laundering and terrorism financing.

Key Concerns Raised by MONEYVAL

  • Limited use of financial intelligence: Bulgarian authorities are not making adequate use of financial intelligence in their investigations.
  • Underutilisation of investigative tools: There are challenges in effectively employing investigative tools to pursue money laundering and terrorism financing cases.
  • Prosecution of money laundering and terrorism financing: The country faces difficulties in prosecuting such cases.

Recommendations to Address Identified Weaknesses

MONEYVAL recommends the following actions to address these issues:

Strengthen National Financial Intelligence Unit and Improve Inter-agency Cooperation

  • Bolster the capabilities and capacity of the national financial intelligence unit.
  • Enhance inter-agency cooperation between different law enforcement and regulatory bodies.

Increase Training Opportunities for Investigators and Prosecutors

  • Expand training opportunities for investigators and prosecutors in financial crime matters.

Effective Enforcement of Confiscation Regime and Improvement of Freezing and Seizing of Criminal Assets

  • Strengthen the enforcement of the confiscation regime.
  • Enhance the freezing and seizing of criminal assets.
  • Adopt a legal framework for the mutual legal assistance and execution of confiscation orders.

Other Proposed Measures

  • Enhance the regulatory and supervisory framework for non-financial professions: Implement measures to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.
  • Risk-based approach to customer due diligence: In the financial sector, implement a risk-based approach to customer due diligence.

[1]: MONEYVAL, Fourth Round Mutual Evaluation Report Bulgaria, Council of Europe, June 2022, online.