Albania removed from Moneyval money laundering watch list

Albania has been monitored since 1997 for the implementation of the recommendations decided by the Committee, and the most recent Strasbourg evaluation dates since 2011.

John Ringguth, Executive Secretary of Moneyval: The most recent evaluation was that of 2011, when there were a series of technical issues found regarding the main international standards and which should be treated. We have followed the process very carefully, because of our observing mechanism. Since 2011 and to this week, when Albania reported for the steps that have been taken so far, we were able to come to the conclusion that the progress reached by Albania was good, equal to the wide compatibility range, as we call it, when we compare it to the levels reached by former evaluations. This means that for us, Albania has really made huge progress in the recent years. The objective of our statute is not to simply draft reports and recommendations to other countries, but also to follow and make sure that the capacities of some countries to really fight money laundering and financing of terrorism are increased indeed. I think that the report we discussed this week shows that Albania has most of the technical capacities that are needed in this area for an effective and serious treatment of these issues in the future. We have decided this week to remove Albania from the constant monitoring process. In my opinion, now starts the real work for a proper implementation of international standards. Some have been implemented effectively, but we will have a closer look in the next evaluation for how the new legal dispositions are implemented on terrain. This is very important right now, because, for countries like Albania, which have been part of Moneyval for so long, we expect them to be technically compatible with the standards. In the next evaluation round we will observe how they understand the risks of money laundering, if they can understand correctly which are the most vulnerable sectors. We are going to see the penalization and confiscation of money laundering cases with a more critic eye. We will see if they are really making good example in courts, with the hope there will be conviction where needed. The next round is more focused on an effective implementation, and we expect the technical compatibility to be less important.

The Albanian delegation is made of nine members, representatives from the Central Bank, the Prosecution General, the Financial Supervision Authority, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finances.

Officials from Tirana handed over a 179-page report about the implementation of the Moneyval recommendations. 80 of these pages include account freezing, seizing of funds, assets and prosecutions. According to the head of the delegation, Genti Gazheli, “this decision increases the credibility of the integrity in the domestic financial system. Creates a more favorable climate for foreign investments. It also reinforces the contribution of Albanian institutions when cooperating with international organizations, with the fight against economic crime, money laundering, organized crime and financing of terrorism.

Genti Gazheli, General Director of the Money Laundering Prevention: This means that Albania is not anymore in the list of countries that are being monitored regularly for money laundering and financing of terrorism.

Top Channel: Do you think it was the right decision for this year, or Albania could have been removed even earlier?

Gazheli: On December 2013, a law passed against the financing of terrorism, which is very important for meeting the international standards. This happened only on October 2013. This was one of the main issues that were keeping Albania under watch for financing of terrorism. The completion of this standard increased Albania’s level.

Top Channel: So, this could have happened in 2014?

Gazheli: Maybe, but the committee is very strict in fixing the issues that have been addressed. After fixing these issues, the Committee decided to remove Albania from the constant monitoring list.

Top Channel: In 2017 there will be a report for Albania, for how it has implemented these laws. What do you expect by then?

Gazheli: We expect 2017 to be more effective. We have fulfilled every legal issue. A more effective work is required, even convictions from courts. We have completed the prevention, we have increased the effective force of our strength, but courts must give convictions and even confiscations.

John Ringguth: The next round must focus less on the technical compatibility. We expect countries to include them in their laws. Albania is a good example, because your confiscation and penalization laws on money laundering cases are compatible with the international standards, completely in a technical way. Albania is a member of the Warsaw Convention of the Council of Europe, which has dispositions that go beyond the current international standards in order to help prosecutors follow money laundering cases and help courts issue confiscation orders. Albania is a full member and plays a key role in the responsible committee for this convention. Albania has the technical troops to make serious confiscations to third parties that are members of the organized crime, and to deliver it with success.

Top Channel: What are the main challenges met by member countries when they complete the recommendations, especially for preventing the financing of terrorism? And what are the key issues that should be treated by Western Balkans?

John Ringguth: What I would say especially for this, is the request for freezing assets and make them unavailable to people listed by the UN as with ties to Al-Qaeda or the Talebans, or ISIS, which most probably is already included in that special resolution. The standard coming from the UN and FATF requires these countries to automatically freeze the assets of the people who have their names on the list made by the New York Committee. There are still some small issues regarding Albania. Albania has a terrorist defining procedure which allows all assets to be frozen by a commission in Albania. One of the issues with these countries is a request that the assets of ISIS and Al Qaeda should be frozen without delay. The term “without delay” has been interpreted by FATF and Moneyval as “within a few hours”. This is an issue that needs to be solved in some countries, so that this definition can be done more quickly for procedures that are still allowed in some countries.

Top Channel: What would be your advise to Albanian lawmakers?

John Ringguth: My advise is to be in position to give evidence for the so-called “effectiveness indicator” for the new round, because you have some good prosecution cases that make a difference.

Top Channel: Only prosecutions, or convictions are also included?

John Ringguth: Certainly, including convictions too. Good examples of confiscations are needed, especially for prevention. Evidence that the supervision have regularly identified the risk areas, the most endangered parts of the financial sector, by guaranteeing that they are using their sources in the main risk areas, when it comes to supervision. One of the main indicators in the new round will be level of the work done by supervisors, and this is clearly very important for preventing money laundering and financing terrorism. There is also one final thing I wanted to say. In countries with a wide informal background, informality could be used for money laundering. It is very important for authorities to understand what is happening. There is some work for the supervisors, but the government should also be part of it. If there is a wide underground of the financial sector, the evaluators will ask what the country is doing for its financial involvement, because we are considering it a lot now, in Moneyval and FATF, to make a financial exclusion of people who are not using banks and who are not involved in the supervised sectors, who represent what we consider “risk for money laundering and financing of terrorism”.

The decision of the Moneyval Committee comes after the decision taken on February 2015 by FATF at the European Council, and, as usual, the findings of Strasbourg are expected to be included in the annual report of the European Commission for Albania.

Top Channel