On the 4th of September, the Council of Europe’s Economic Crime and Cooperation Division conducted an on-line training for Romanian government officials, private and NPO sector representatives on how to assess money laundering and terrorist financing risks pursuant to the CoE AML/CFT National Risk Assessment Methodology.

The main objective of the training was to familiarize Romanian authorities and private and NPO sector representatives with the CoE Methodology and conducting an NRA pursuant to this Methodology. CoE experts provided an overview on the necessary organizational framework, data gathering modules, methodological aspects and the NRA report structure. Moreover, practical examples from previous assessments conducted in the neighboring countries were also shared.

The training was the first step in a wider effort of supporting Romania in conducting, for the first time, a country-wide ML/TF risk assessment. Training participants which included government officials, compliance officers and professionals assigned to the NRA assessment process, have once again expressed their commitment to deploy this methodology for the purpose of identifying AML/CFT systemic threats and vulnerabilities in Romania. As a follow up, the Council of Europe will deliver to the Romanian authorities the NRA Methodology accompanied by relevant data gathering tools.

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.