The Republic of Moldova has begun preparations for conducting a review and update of its national risk assessment (NRA) on money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF), working closely with members of the NRA Working Group as part of its ongoing compliance with best practices and international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.

Undertaken in collaboration with the Office for Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering ( aka the FIU) of Moldova, the Project “Action against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in the Republic of Moldova” will provide both expert and technical support to Moldova in the carrying out of this assessment, which will employ the  Council of Europe’s ML/TF National Risk Assessment Methodology. The assessment process was initiated, with the holding of a multi-day workshop at which members of the NRA Working Group from across a wide range of authorities and the private sector, took place, to prepare themselves for undertaking this exercise in 2025. Participants received training and instruction on both the methodology and useful tactics and measures to apply to ensure an accurate and informed assessment of financial crime risks was successfully undertaken.

The workshop highlighted the importance of robust data collection and verification, pro-active management of data limitations and related challenges, whilst also exploring strategies for addressing vulnerabilities in the risk assessment process. International experts who supported the workshop also outlined the necessary steps to ensure that measures designed to detect, prevent and disrupt financial crime are accurately identified and evaluated, with areas of possible improvement being identified for future action and prioritisation.

The workshop marked an important step in supporting Moldova’s efforts to enhance its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) mechanisms, in line with global standards and best practices, support its ongoing work in meeting the FATF Recommendations and work towards the furthering strengthening of the measures used to effectively fight financial crime.