On 14 December 2021, the Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) of the Council of Europe organised a Workshop to discuss the first draft Money Laundering and Terrorism financing (ML/TF) National Risk Assessment (NRA) Report of Romania. The event took place in a hybrid format in Bucharest, Romania, and it gathered representatives of all beneficiary institutions involved in the NRA process, such as the National Office for Prevention and Control of Money Laundering (Romanian Financial Intelligence Unit), National Bank of Romania, Financial Supervisory Authority, the General Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of Justice, Romanian Intelligence Service and Romanian Police.

The workshop provided an opportunity to discuss the initial findings of the first draft ML/TF NRA Report of Romania, as well as to reflect on the recommendations provided by the expert review undertaken by the ECCD. Some of the preliminary and targeted recommendations had been shared with beneficiary institutions prior to the Workshop and the Romanian authorities were commended for their significant efforts aimed at identifying, assessing and mitigating ML/TF risks pursuant to the Methodology developed by the Council of Europe.

Immediately after the Workshop, the ECCD project team and the Council of Europe experts continued working with the Romanian authorities in a series of in person meetings with different sectors of obliged entities and competent authorities, aiming to further discuss the findings of the Report, in order to lay a strong foundation for the Second Draft of the NRA Report of Romania.

The event was organised within the framework of the Structural Reform Support Programme initiative “Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risk Compliance: Implementing a National Mechanism to Assess and Manage Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risks in Romania”, funded by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.