Throughout the past few years, the Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) has provided constant support to Bulgarian authorities in enhancing the jurisdiction’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) system through the identification of potential money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) risks and the development of the necessary mitigation measures.
In this regard, following the finalisation of the AML/CFT National Risk Assessment (NRA) of Bulgaria in 2019 – conducted pursuant to the Council of Europe AML/CFT NRA Methodology – the ECCD has further supported competent authorities in developing the AML/CFT Action Plan of Bulgaria. The authorities could thus benefit from practical guidance on how to design objectives, activities and actions that would reflect the NRA findings on ML/TF risks.
As a result of authorities’ commitment and the ECCD support, the AML/CFT Action Plan of Bulgaria has been approved by the Government in September 2021. Following authorities’ request for technical assistance for further improving the AML/CFT Action Plan in line with relevant international standards and good practices, the ECCD has undertaken an expert review of the document. A Technical Paper has therefore been developed with the aim of providing concrete recommendations to Bulgarian authorities on how to further enhance the Action Plan’s structure and methodology in consideration of the international good practices, and providing practical recommendations for ensuring its effective implementation and monitoring.
In order to present the results of the expert review and the recommendations provided in the Technical Paper “Guidance on Improving the Adopted National AML/CFT Action Plan of Bulgaria and Ensuring its Effective Implementation”, the ECCD has organised a Workshop on 24 March 2022, in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event gathered representatives of the Bulgarian Financial intelligence Unit, National Revenue Agency, Ministry of Justice, Customs Agency, Commission for Anti-Corruption and Illegal Asset Forfeiture and Financial Supervision Commission. The discussion allowed to provide further clarifications regarding the strategic themes of the National AML/CFT Action Plan of Bulgaria and participants benefitted from practical advice on the effective implementation of the AML/CFT Action Plan.
The activity was organised within the framework of the Structural Reform Support Programme initiative on “Enhancing capabilities of Bulgarian authorities to effectively mitigate money laundering and terrorist financing risks”, funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe.