Slovenia’s Compliance Risk Assessment Framework Under Scrutiny: Moderate Improvements, but Significant Deficiencies Remain in Combating Terrorism Financing

A recent report by MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe anti-money laundering body, has revealed moderate improvements in Slovenia’s measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. However, significant legislative deficiencies still exist regarding the criminalisation of terrorism financing.

Assessment of Risk Assessment Framework

According to the report, Slovenia has upgraded from “partially compliant” to “largely compliant” in assessing money laundering and terrorist financing risks. This upgrade reflects progress made by the authorities in conducting a national risk assessment and adopting follow-up measures.

Key Improvements

• The Slovenian National Risk Assessment now covers sectors such as virtual assets and non-profit organisations.
• A new Action Plan is in place to mitigate identified risks.

Deficiencies in Criminalisation of Terrorism Financing

However, despite these improvements, Slovenia’s legal framework still contains significant deficiencies regarding the criminalisation of terrorism financing. The country has not yet fully addressed technical compliance deficiencies, which MONEYVAL had expected would be resolved within three years after the adoption of its mutual evaluation report in June 2017.

Consequences

• MONEYVAL has decided to apply its Compliance Enhancing Procedures with regard to Slovenia.
• The Secretary General of the Council of Europe will request corrective measures from the country’s authorities.
• Slovenia will remain in enhanced follow-up and is expected to report back to MONEYVAL on progress strengthening its implementation of anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures within one year.

Accessing the Full Report

The full report can be accessed online.