Cybercrime Threatens Financial Sector in Slovakia, MONEYVAL Report Warns

Vulnerability to Cybercrime and Money Laundering

Slovakia’s financial sector is exposed to cybercrime and money laundering, according to a recent report by the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body, MONEYVAL. The country’s authorities are urged to take decisive action against illicit funds generated by all proceeds-generating crimes.

Progress Made but Challenges Remain

While Slovakia has made some progress in understanding national money laundering and terrorism financing risks, there are still significant challenges to be addressed. Law enforcement agencies, supervisors, and the private sector have a moderate grasp of the threats posed by organized crime, corruption, and cybercrime, although this knowledge is not always up-to-date.

Shortcomings Identified by MONEYVAL

Some key shortcomings identified by MONEYVAL include:

• Lack of effective use of financial intelligence: The report highlights that the lack of effective use of financial intelligence and other relevant information to collect evidence and trace criminal assets is a significant challenge.
• Insufficient resources for anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) supervision: The resources available for AML and CFT supervision are overall insufficient, and the scope and depth of inspections carried out by the FIU and the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) are not fully risk-based.
• Absence of a central bank account register: The absence of a central bank account register is a significant challenge for conducting financial analysis.

Recommendations from MONEYVAL

MONEYVAL has recommended that Slovakia:

• Take decisive action against illicit funds generated by all proceeds-generating crimes
• Improve the use of financial intelligence and other relevant information to collect evidence and trace criminal assets
• Increase resources available for AML and CFT supervision

Conclusion

The report concludes that the resources available for anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) supervision are overall insufficient, and the scope and depth of inspections carried out by the FIU and the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) are not fully risk-based.