The Council of Europe’s Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) organised the online Closing Conference of the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) initiative “Enhancing capabilities of Bulgarian authorities to effectively mitigate money laundering and terrorist financing risks”, on 11 January 2023.

The event was convened with the aim of presenting and reflecting on the project results and achievements with all Steering Committee Members and other stakeholders who were involved in different project activities. The conference was attended by representatives of the Financial Intelligence Directorate under the State Agency for National Security (FID-SANS), National Revenue Agency, National Customs Agency, Registry Agency as well as the European Commission – DG REFORM and the Council of Europe.

One of the main project achievements underlined during the event was the adoption of the Action plan for mitigating risks of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) in Bulgaria on 21 September 2021. The authorities have also been commended for the significant progress achieved in undertaking the sectoral risk assessment of ML/TF risks related to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), terrorist financing sectoral risk assessment of the Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs)’ sector, as well as with the update of the ML/TF National Risk Assessment of Bulgaria, which were conducted pursuant to the Council of Europe methodologies and under the tailored guidance of Council of Europe experts.

In addition, the project supported the authorities with the development of a number of Guidelines for specific areas and sectors of obliged entities which have been identified in the latest NRA report of Bulgaria as being exposed to higher ML/TF risks, and organised of a number of awareness-raising workshops for more than 150 representatives of various sectors of obliged entities.  

The authorities have also received support on improving the NPO sector’s regulation in the context of FATF Recommendation 8 and on the risk-based approach to NPO supervision and regulation. In addition, the ECCD has dedicated significant efforts to improving the risk-based supervision of the Designated Non-financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs)’ sector in Bulgaria, namely by providing guidance for establishing a risk-based supervisory framework for DNFBPs, as well as by developing the Risk-Based AML/CFT Supervisory Manual for competent authorities. Finally, the project also provided an opportunity for representatives of relevant competent authorities to be engaged in several peer-to-peer exchanges with their counterparts from EU Member States, in Bulgaria and in other countries.

Besides focusing on achievements, the project closing event was also an opportunity to gather the Bulgarian authorities’ feedback regarding the implementation of the technical assistance project, including its relevance, sustainability and encountered challenges. Last but not least, the Conference provided an excellent oportunity to discuss future technical assistance needs and further opportunities for cooperation between the Bulgarian authorities and the Council of Europe’s Economic Crime and Cooperation Division. 

The event was organised within the framework of the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) project for Bulgaria “Enhancing capabilities of Bulgarian authorities to effectively mitigate money laundering and terrorist financing risks”, 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.