Slovakia’s Efforts to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Receive Praise from FATF Body MONEYVAL

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Slovakia has made significant progress in preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, according to a new report released by the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body MONEYVAL. The country’s authorities have improved their compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, earning praise from MONEYVAL.

Progress in Complying with FATF Standards

MONEYVAL has upgraded Slovakia’s ratings from “partially compliant” to “largely compliant” in four areas:

• ML/TF risk assessment
• Suspicious transaction reporting
• Designation of a competent authority for money laundering
• Maintaining comprehensive statistics

Areas for Improvement

However, the country’s rating was downgraded in the field of new technologies, specifically regarding virtual assets. Additionally, some minor deficiencies remain, including:

• Prioritization of measures to mitigate ML/TF risks
• Lack of obligations for the private sector to manage and mitigate higher risks

Legislative, Regulatory, and Institutional Measures

Slovakia has introduced various legislative, regulatory, and institutional measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, including:

• Customer due diligence obligations
• Financial institution internal controls
• Cash courier regulations

While MONEYVAL has not assessed the implementation of these measures in practice due to procedural limitations, it has acknowledged positive developments such as the adoption of an action plan to manage and mitigate ML/TF risks.

Addressing Deficiencies

Slovakia’s authorities have addressed previously identified deficiencies regarding suspicious transaction reporting and established a competent authority to investigate money laundering cases. Additionally, the country has implemented requirements for keeping and maintaining comprehensive statistical data.

Future Expectations

The report also examines Slovakia’s implementation of new international requirements for virtual assets, which was downgraded from “largely compliant” to “partially compliant” due to identified deficiencies. The country is expected to report back to MONEYVAL on further progress in strengthening its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures within the next year.

Full Report Available

A link to the full report can be found online.