Slovenia Grapples with Banking Fraud Types Amid Progress in Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Despite making significant strides in combating money laundering and terrorist financing since June 2017, a recent report by the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body MONEYVAL has highlighted lingering deficiencies in Slovenia’s systems.

Progress Made

Slovenia has achieved several notable accomplishments:

• Effective Sanctioning Regime: The country has implemented a more effective sanctioning regime for terrorism financing, earning it a higher international compliance rating.
• Strengthened Supervision and Prevention Measures: Authorities have strengthened their supervision and prevention measures to mitigate risks related to politically exposed persons.

Shortcomings Identified

However, the report also identified areas that require improvement:

• Virtual Currencies: Despite making some progress in implementing new international requirements, MONEYVAL downgraded Slovenia’s rating on the implementation of Recommendation 15 from “compliant” to “partially compliant.”
• National Risk Assessment: Slovenia still faces minor deficiencies in implementing 25 other FATF Recommendations.
• Terrorism Financing Offence: There are larger-scale issues in four areas: national risk assessment, terrorism financing offence, virtual assets, and cash couriers.

Next Steps

As a result of the report’s findings, MONEYVAL has placed Slovenia in the enhanced follow-up process. The country will be required to report back on further progress within the next year. The report was adopted at the 61st MONEYVAL Plenary meeting held in April.

FATF Recommendations

Slovenia has achieved full compliance with 11 out of 40 FATF Recommendations, which form the global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standard. However, it still faces minor deficiencies in implementing 25 other recommendations and larger-scale issues in four areas.