Money laundering/ Albania under the scrutiny of MONEYVAL, evaluation report in December

2026-05-05 16:51:00, Aktualitet CNA

Money laundering/ Albania under the scrutiny of MONEYVAL, evaluation report in

Albania is facing a new round of international scrutiny, after a Council of Europe delegation completed a two-week mission to the country to assess the system for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.

Moneyval (a Council of Europe body that assesses how member states and some other jurisdictions implement international standards against money laundering and terrorist financing) announced on its official website this week that a team of experts conducted a field visit to Albania from 14 to 24 April 2026, as part of the sixth round of mutual evaluations.

The purpose of this process is to assess how effectively Albania is implementing international standards for the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, according to the updated methodology of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The announcement states that at the opening of the visit, Deputy Prime Minister Albana Koçiu emphasized the high-level political commitment to strengthening and improving the country's legal and institutional framework in the field of the fight against financial crime.

During the mission, MONEYVAL experts held meetings with representatives of ministries, law enforcement agencies, justice institutions and supervisory authorities, as well as with other operational structures of the state.

The process also included consultations with the private sector, including banks, financial institutions, notaries, lawyers, casinos, real estate agents, and non-profit organizations.

The evaluation team was composed of experts with legal, financial and investigative experience, assisted by the MONEYVAL Secretariat, reflecting the technical nature of the evaluation process.

The final report is expected to be discussed and adopted at the MONEYVAL plenary meeting in December 2026, a moment that could affect Albania's international assessment of compliance with financial standards.

The results of the reports published by Moneyval take on particular importance given the impact they have on the perception of the country's profile. /Monitor