A workshop to review the Albanian progress in the anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing area as part of the preparedness for the upcoming 6^th Round MONEYVAL¹ Mutual Evaluation of Albania planned in 2025, was organised by the European Union and the Council of Europe Action against Economic Crime in Albania, in co-operation with the Financial Intelligence Agency.

This meeting was attended by high representatives of the law enforcement agencies and other public authorities responsible for the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. It aimed to present and discuss the key findings and recommendations of the technical assistance provided to Albanian authorities for improving the effectiveness of the domestic measures related to international cooperation, financial intelligence, money laundering investigation and prosecution, and confiscation of criminal assets in line with the European standards.

Giulia Re, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tirana, said that: “This evaluation comes at an important moment for Albania in terms of accelerating the EU integration process. Albania is no longer in the FATF’s “grey list” due to its progress in strengthening the anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorist measures. Maintaining and building on this achievement will be critical as Albania approaches the MONEYVAL evaluation”.

In his opening remarks, Ervin Koçi, General Director of the Financial Intelligence Agency, stated that the support provided by the Action has been essential in strengthening the institutional capacities and equipping the responsible authorities with the needed tools, skills, and insights for a successful MONEYVAL evaluation.

This event marks the finalisation of a six-month comprehensive support provided through combination of a set of actions including the review of the information prepared by the Albanian authorities based on the MONEYVAL evaluation format and twenty-four (24) individual meetings held with representatives of responsible authorities to better exploit the progress achieved and to properly address specific challenges ahead of MONEYVAL evaluation. As a result, the Action against Economic Crime in Albania developed a set of targeted recommendations for each of the reviewed areas and institutions to effectively address identified deficiencies, providing a clear guidance about the measures needed to further strengthen Albania’s fight against money laundering and terrorist financing in line with the European standards.

This activity was organised by the Action against Economic Crime in Albania, as part of the European Union/Council of Europe joint programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye.

[1] Council of Europe monitoring body Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of the Anti-Money Laundering Measures and Financing of Terrorism.