The Council of Europe’s Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) is currently supporting the Romanian authorities with conducting their Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) National Risk Assessment (NRA). As this process is advancing, the authorities participating in this exercise are taking the opportunity to start identifying mitigating actions for the risks detected through the assessment, and to follow-up with the preliminary stages of preparation of the related Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Action Plan.
In continuous support to this endeavour, on 16 December 2021, the Council of Europe organised a Workshop on the preparation of the AML/CFT Action Plan of Romania. The event, held in hybrid format in Bucharest, Romania, allowed representatives of Romanian competent authorities to get acquainted with possible approaches for developing the Action Plan and to get a better understanding of its expected structure, including the need to identify strategic themes, objectives and actions, as well as monitoring mechanisms and practical aspects to take into account for its development and implementation.
Representatives of beneficiary institutions involved in the NRA process – National Office for Prevention and Control of Money Laundering (Romanian Financial Intelligence Unit), National Bank of Romania, Financial Supervisory Authority, General Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of Justice, Romanian Intelligence Service and Romanian Police – could therefore discuss preliminary ideas of actions to be included in the Action Plan, exchange views on the process to be envisaged for its development and adoption, as well as identify some essential activities that could already be implemented in the beginning of 2022. Upon finalisation of the second draft NRA report, the ECCD will further support the abovementioned stakeholders with the conceptualisation of the AML/CFT Action Plan through the provision of tailored expert advice and guidance.
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.