The Council of Europe's Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) is supporting Bulgarian authorities with enhancing the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) risk-based supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), virtual assets service providers (VASPs), electronic wallet providers and Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs).

In this regard, in the past few months the ECCD has undertaken a review of the risk-based supervision manual used by Financial Intelligence Directorate under the State Agency for National Security (FID-SANS- Financial Intelligence Unit) with a view of further enhancing the document, by also complementing it with additional parts aimed at assessing the specific risks associated with VASPs, electronic wallet providers and NPOs. In this regard, the ECCD has also developed respective risk matrices and sector-specific questionnaires that would support the data collection process.

In order to present the provided recommendations and newly developed supervisory tools, the ECCD has organised an in-person workshop on 26 February 2024, in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event gathered 25 representatives of FID-SANS, Financial Supervision Commission, National Revenue Agency, as well as Council of Europe and European Commission representatives. Moreover, the event also aimed at recalling the importance of using the risk-assessment results for the purpose of developing supervisory strategies and supervisory plans, which would allow to demonstrate that the supervisory actions are effective and risk-driven.

The discussion further focused on the specificities of the NPO sector’s monitoring, in light of the recently revised requirements of the FATF Recommendation 8. Bulgarian authorities could for instance benefit from expert advice as regards the practical steps to be taken for the identification of the subset of NPOs being at the highest risk of terrorist financing and therefore requiring targeted supervisory measures.

The abovementioned efforts aimed at further supporting Bulgarian authorities with addressing recommendations provided in the Fifth Round Mutual MONEYVAL Evaluation Report of Bulgaria, ensuring the continuity with the previous technical assistance provided by the Council of Europe.

The activity was organised within the framework of the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) project on “Enhancing the capabilities for risk-based AML supervision and financial intelligence in Bulgaria”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe.