The Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) is providing continuous support to Romanian authorities in conducting the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) National Risk Assessment (NRA) of Romania.

Following a review of the first draft ML/TF NRA report in December 2021, competent authorities involved in the assessment process have put significant efforts into further improving the quality of the draft report. In February 2022, the ECCD has thus supported Romania with an expert review of the second draft ML/TF NRA report against the requirements of the Council of Europe ML/TF NRA Methodology and relevant international standards.

The results of the expert review were presented to representatives of the Financial Intelligence Unit, National Bank of Romania, Financial Supervisory Authority, Ministry of Justice, General Prosecutor’s Office, Police and Intelligence Service during a Workshop held on 22 March 2022 in Bucharest, Romania. The analysis underlined the important progress made since the first version of the Report was produced. The discussion, therefore, focused on the ways of addressing minor remaining issues regarding the presentation of assessment conclusions for some sectors of obliged entities. The stakeholders also used the opportunity to discuss follow-up steps of the NRA process, and a preliminary calendar for the finalisation of the NRA report was agreed. Upon completion of this step, the authorities will work towards the official endorsement of the ML/TF NRA Report of Romania at the highest level.

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.