Progress in combating money laundering by Romania deemed limited, as per assessment by Council of Europe experts.
In a recent report released by the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (Moneyval), Romania's progress in combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing has been assessed.
According to the report, Romania is rated as compliant on seven out of the 40 FATF recommendations, largely compliant on 18 recommendations, and partially compliant on 15 recommendations. Despite several steps taken by Romania to counter money laundering in the recent period, the progress made was not sufficient to upgrade the compliance ratings of four specific recommendations, which remain rated "partially compliant."
The report highlights moderate shortcomings that still need to be addressed in Romania's anti-money laundering measures, particularly in areas such as targeted financial sanctions, virtual assets, virtual asset service providers, and statistics. Romania has been identified as making limited progress in enhancing its framework against money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
As a result, Romania will continue under Moneyval’s enhanced follow-up procedure, with a requirement to report back on its overall progress by May 2026. The report also emphasises that Romania still needs to make significant improvements in these areas.
Moneyval, a permanent monitoring body of the Council of Europe, established in 1997, is entrusted with the task of evaluating the effectiveness of the implementation of these standards. Its role includes assessing compliance with international standards to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and making recommendations for improvements.
The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism is the official name of Moneyval. The follow-up report released on June 26, 2020, mentions limited progress in addressing technical compliance deficiencies in Romania.
Romania is not the only country under scrutiny by Moneyval. The organisation evaluates the effectiveness of the implementation of these standards in various countries across Europe and beyond. The ultimate goal is to ensure that all countries are doing their part in the global fight against money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
The business sector in Romania needs to make significant improvements in addressing technical compliance deficiencies, particularly in areas such as targeted financial sanctions, virtual assets, virtual asset service providers, and statistics, to ensure better adherence to anti-money laundering regulations. The progress made by Romania in the finance sector has been assessed by Moneyval, a permanent monitoring body of the Council of Europe, and while some improvements have been made, Romania remains under the enhanced follow-up procedure, requiring regular reports on its progress until May 2026.
