Action against Economic Crime in North Macedonia has been supporting the country’s authorities in conducting the national money laundering and financing of terrorism risk assessment (NRA) since September 2023. This support was launched with a workshop on 20 September 2023, bringing together the national authorities and private sector representatives to update them on the applied methodology for conducting the national risk assessment, and to guide them through the process of data collection and analysis.

The national money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment is crucial for the country as it helps to improve the understanding of the authorities and private sector participants of money laundering and terrorist financing threats and vulnerabilities, so that they can allocate their resources to their respective supervisory, enforcement and compliance efforts more efficiently. Ultimately, implementation of effective anti-money laundering and countering financing of the terrorism measures informed by the NRA results help safeguard the economy, enhance national security, ensure compliance with international standards, and boost investor confidence. It plays a vital role in combating financial crimes.

As the NRA process progresses, the Action against Economic Crime in North Macedonia continues supporting national authorities by providing advice in analysing the collected data and drafting of the report. 

In this context, the Action once again brought together over 50 representatives of the public and private sector on 5-7 June 2024 in Ohrid, North Macedonia, to jointly analyse the gathered data related to money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation. During the three-day workshop, the representatives worked in ten groups discussing and analysing data and preparing reports for separate modules of the methodology. The Action supported the process by providing expertise and guidance for analysing the collected data and drawing conclusions in a form of a draft report. As the next step in its technical assistance, the Action will provide support to the working groups in consolidating the first draft NRA report.

This activity was organised by the Action against economic crime in North Macedonia, within the framework of the European Union/Council of Europe joint Programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye (Horizontal Facility III), co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.