A new report published by the Council of Europe sheds positive light on actions that the Principality has been taking against money laundering and terrorism. Titled ‘Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures Monaco’ the 65-page follow-up report was published on 10 December 2024.
According to the report, Monaco has improved measures to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, demonstrating significant progress in the level of compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.
“Since the adoption of its mutual evaluation report (2022), Monaco has taken numerous steps to strengthen its anti-money laundering and terrorist financing systems,” states a press release by MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism.
To summarize the report, Monaco has achieved “large compliance” with 32 of the 40 FATF Recommendations plus full compliance with 7 FATF Recommendations. Recommendation 15 (New technologies), is the only remaining recommendation rated as “partially compliant”. (Monaco has no “non-compliant” ratings.)
Breakdown of all recommendations and ratings…
The progress achieved by the Monegasque authorities since 2022 prompted MONEYVAL to re-rate Monaco as “compliant” with Recommendations 6 (Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing) 7 (Targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation) and 12 (Politically exposed persons).
Monaco has also been rated and as “largely compliant” with Recommendations 4 (Confiscation and provisional measures), 8 (Non-profit organizations), 24 (Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons), 25 (Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements), 26 (Regulation and supervision of financial institutions), 27 (Powers of supervisors), 28 (Regulation and supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions), 31 (Powers of law enforcement and investigative authorities), 34 (Guidance and feedback), 35 (Sanctions), 37 (Mutual legal assistance). All of these recommendations had been previously rated as “partially compliant”.
“All in all, Monaco has succeeded in meeting the general expectation of MONEYVAL for countries to have addressed most, if not all, of the technical compliance deficiencies within two years after the adoption of the mutual evaluation report,” states a recent press release by MONEYVAL.
Monaco is expected to report back to MONEYVAL in three years time on progress to strengthen its implementation of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) measures.
About MONEYVAL
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.
