In 2021 and 2022, the Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) supported Romanian authorities with conducting 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. The ML/TF NRA report of Romania was finalised and officially adopted in September 2022, after a thorough and inclusive process.

Further supporting the authorities to raise the private sector’s awareness on the key findings of the ML/TF NRA report, the ECCD organised a series of awareness-raising seminars for over 500 representatives of different groups of obliged entities, in cooperation with the National Office for Prevention and Control of Money Laundering (Romanian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)), the National Bank of Romania (NBR) and the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA).

Six targeted awareness-raising sessions were organised for different groups, namely: (1) lawyers, notaries, insolvency practitioners, bailiffs, corporate or trust service providers; (2) accountants, valuators, auditors, tax consultants, persons providing financial, business or accounting advice, gaming; (3) virtual and fiat currency exchange service providers, digital wallet providers, real estate agents and developers, art dealers, subsidiary MFIs, currency exchange houses, pawnshops, mutual aid houses, currency exchange houses, pawnshops; (4) commercial banks; (5) non-bank financial institutions under the FSA’s supervision; (6) non-bank financial institutions under the NBR’s supervision.

Each of the seminars started with an overview of the ML/TF NRA results presented by the Romanian authorities, including ML/TF risks identified at national level, followed by more detailed sector-specific information targeting each respective group of entities. As a complementary contribution, participants also benefited from the international Council of Europe expertise and advice on the relevance and implications of the ML/TF NRA for each of the concerned sectors. Participants thus enhanced their understanding on the application of a risk-based approach and learned about examples of relevant ML/TF cases and AML/CFT practices involving their respective sectors.

In addition, the sessions provided a platform for exchanging between the AML/CFT supervisory authorities and obliged entities. The latter had the opportunity to share their feedback on the NRA findings and the guidance received from the FIU and/or direct supervisor. Building on the communication of the NRA results, FIU representatives also provided sector-specific advice on risk mitigation and suspicious transaction reporting.

This awareness-raising initiative is an important element of effective prevention and detection of money laundering and terrorism financing in Romania. It helps ensure that potentially exposed private sector entities are aware of existing ML/TF risks, and of their role in preventing and mitigating them, as part of the national system. 

The events were 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.