Financial crime watchdog adds Bulgaria to grey list

The decision follows Bulgaria committing this month to work with FATF and the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body, Moneyval, to improve its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing framework, FATF said in a statement on Friday.

Countries placed under increased monitoring actively work with FATF to correct strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing regimes within agreed timeframes.

While FATF doesn't formally suggest stricter controls for grey-listed countries, they often get imposed in practice. This happens because foreign financial institutions tend to scrutinize transactions involving these countries more, potentially causing challenges for financial flows.

Bulgaria will focus on implementing its FATF action plan by addressing compliance deficiencies, improving supervision of financial sectors like postal money operators and currency exchange providers and enhancing the accuracy of beneficial ownership data. Additionally, the country will work on strengthening investigations and prosecutions of money laundering cases, including those related to corruption and organised crime.

Bulgaria has made progress in implementing recommended actions to improve its international cooperation since its mutual evaluation report prepared by Moneyval in May 2022, FATF said.