Albania has improved its measures for tackling money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT), concludes MONEYVAL in a follow-up report released today. The report found Albania to have improved its compliance with the Financial Action Task Force’s Recommendations 25 (transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements) and 28 (regulation and supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions). The country has been re-rated on these two recommendations from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant.
Since June 2022, Albania took additional measures, which addressed important shortcomings concerning trustees being subject to AML/CFT requirements and streamlined access to beneficial ownership information for competent authorities.
Moreover, Albania improved measures for regulating and supervising notaries and real estate agents. The licensing authority for notaries is now empowered to revoke licenses for the infringement of AML/CFT legislation. Albania also introduced risk-based supervision over real estate agents.
Overall, Albania has made progress in addressing most of the technical compliance shortcomings identified in its 2018 Mutual Evaluation Report. Out of the 40 Recommendations, Albania currently has:
•    6 Recommendations rated Compliant
•    31 Recommendations rated Largely Compliant
•    2 Recommendations rated Partially Compliant and 1 Not Applicable 
Albania is expected to report back in two years to MONEYVAL on further progress made towards strengthening its AML/CFT system.
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The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) is a monitoring body of the Council of Europe entrusted with the task of assessing compliance with the principal international standards to counter money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as the effectiveness of their implementation. MONEYVAL evaluates 33 states and territories  (*) and makes recommendations to national authorities in respect of necessary improvements to their anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing systems and to counter proliferation financing. 

• Link to the report