In a follow-up report published today, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body, MONEYVAL, found that North Macedonia has made progress in strengthening its legal and institutional framework to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, but noted that further efforts are needed to address remaining shortcomings.
The report highlights improvements in the country’s legal and institutional framework, particularly in line with three recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). These include rules on wire transfers, internal controls and oversight of foreign branches, as well as transparency around who ultimately owns trusts and similar legal arrangements.
Since its last evaluation in May 2023, North Macedonia has improved its compliance with FATF standards. Three of the recommendations previously rated as "partially compliant" - those covering wire transfers, internal controls, and transparency of legal arrangements - are now considered "largely compliant."
However, progress on financial sector regulation and supervision (Recommendation 26) was not enough to change its rating, which remains "partially compliant."
Out of the 40 FATF recommendations, North Macedonia now has: 31 rated as compliant or largely compliant; and 9 rated as partially compliant.
The country will report back to MONEYVAL in one year with an update on further progress in strengthening its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures.
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The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) is a Council of Europe monitoring body and a Financial Action Task Force-Style Regional Body which assesses compliance with the main international standards to counter money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as the effectiveness of their implementation. It comprises 35 jurisdictions, 32 of which are assessed solely by MONEYVAL.
