The Council of Europe’s MONEYVAL Committee (Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism) today published its fourth round Evaluation report on Albania. The report stresses that Albania has made considerable progress to improve its AML/CFT regime since the 2006 third round report. However, the risk of money laundering remains high. Albania has a history of organised crime with clan-based and hierarchically organised networks that are mainly involved in drug trafficking. The relative size of the cash‑based informal economy facilitates the laundering and integration of proceeds of crime. The number of sectors identified with illegal practices, including illegal gambling establishments and exchange bureaus, as well as the vulnerabilities that relate to cross-border transportation of currency, also make Albania at risk for money laundering activity (more...)