Back Romanian authorities undertake the development of their Action Plan on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism

© Shutterstock

© Shutterstock

In 2021, Romania launched its first Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) National Risk Assessment (NRA), pursuant to the Council of Europe ML/TF National Risk Assessment Methodology.

Following significant work within a thorough technical process undertaken by relevant institutions involved in the NRA exercise, accompanied by tailored guidance provided by the Council of Europe’s Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD), the NRA process in Romania is now approaching its final stage. The preliminary conclusions of the draft NRA report already provide the authorities with an overview of the ML/TF risks identified in the process and areas where further improvement is needed. Therefore, the development of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Action Plan of Romania was launched, as a next step in the mitigation of identified risks.

Following an event held in Bucharest in December 2021, which provided a general presentation of possible structure and contents of the Action Plan, the Council of Europe organised a follow-up Workshop on “Key steps for developing an AML/CFT Action Plan: building on the NRA of Romania”, on 23 March 2022 in Bucharest, Romania. The main objective of the Workshop was to engage the representatives of the Financial Intelligence Unit, National Bank of Romania, Financial Supervisory Authority, Ministry of Justice, General Prosecutor’s Office, Police and Intelligence Service in a brainstorming exercise on the development process, as well as structure and contents of the AML/CFT Action Plan of Romania. With ECCD guidance, participants could for instance reflect on the structure and key characteristics of the AML/CFT Action Plan. The Romanian authorities were also guided through a typical process of Action Plan development, including the identification of measures, activities, responsible authorities, resources, expected results and other elements. Finally, interventions at the Workshop also brought to the fore the implementation of the Action Plan and related monitoring and reporting, thus aiming towards a results-oriented approach. Participants also benefited from first-hand sharing of good practices identified in other jurisdictions.

The Council of Europe will continue to support Romania in the next steps of this endeavour.

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.

Bucharest, Romania 23 March 2022
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