Bulgaria Strengthens AML and Counter-Terrorist Financing Measures
Summary
The FATF has published a follow-up report on Bulgaria's measures against money laundering and terrorist financing. The report indicates that Bulgaria has strengthened its measures, but further improvements are needed in specific areas to fully comply with international standards.
What changed
This FATF follow-up report assesses Bulgaria's progress in implementing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) measures. It highlights that Bulgaria has made significant strides in strengthening its legal and institutional frameworks, particularly in areas such as beneficial ownership transparency and international cooperation. However, the report also identifies specific recommendations where further action is required to achieve full compliance with the FATF Recommendations.
Regulated entities in Bulgaria, particularly financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), should review the specific recommendations outlined in the report. They must ensure their internal policies, procedures, and controls align with the updated requirements and FATF standards. While this is a FATF report and not directly binding on individual entities, national regulators will likely use it to inform their supervisory activities and enforcement actions. Failure to comply with national AML/CTF regulations, which are informed by FATF standards, can result in significant penalties.
What to do next
- Review the FATF follow-up report for Bulgaria and identify specific recommendations applicable to your operations.
- Assess current AML/CTF policies and procedures against the report's findings and FATF standards.
- Implement necessary updates to controls and training to address identified gaps.
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Bulgaria's progress in strengthening measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing
Publication details
Language
English
Country
Topic
Bulgaria has made progress in addressing some of the technical compliance deficiencies identified in its MER.
The country has addressed the deficiencies in respect of the following Recommendations which have been re-rated as follows:
- Recommendations 6 has been upgraded from Partially Compliant to Compliant
- Recommendations 10 has been upgraded from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant
- Recommendations 24 has been upgraded from Partially Compliant to Compliant
- Recommendations 28 has been upgraded from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant
- Recommendations 34 has been upgraded from Partially Compliant to Compliant Bulgaria will remain in enhanced follow-up and will continue to report back to MONEYVAL on progress to strengthen its implementation of AML/CFT measures. Bulgaria is expected to report back within one year’s time.
Bulgaria Follow-up Report - 2025
Filename Bulgaria-FUR-2025.pdf Size 2 MB Format application/pdf Read the report
Earlier Reports
- 28 May 2024
Bulgaria's progress in strengthening measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing Bulgaria ihas made progress in addressing some of the technical compliance deficiencies identified in its MER.
The country has addressed the deficiencies in respect of the following Recommendations which have been re-rated as follows:
Recommendations 2, 12, 18, 22, 25, 26, 27 have been upgraded from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant.
Recommendations 14, 32, 33 have been upgraded from Partially Compliant to Compliant.
- 11 Jul 2022
Bulgaria's measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing This report provides a summary of the anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures in place in Bulgaria as at the date of the on-site visit (6 to 17 September 2021). It analyses the level of compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 Recommendations and the level of effectiveness of HS/VCS’s AML/CFT system and provides recommendations on how the system could be strengthened.
- 1 Apr 2008
Mutual Evaluation of Bulgaria Bulgaria is a member of MONEYVAL, the assessment of the implementation of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT measures in Bulgaria was conducted by MONEYVAL.
Related materials
The FATF Recommendations
The FATF Recommendations are the basis on which all countries should meet the shared objective of tackling money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation. The FATF calls upon all countries to effectively implement these measures in their national systems. FATF Recommendations
Mutual Evaluations
The FATF conducts peer reviews of each member on an ongoing basis to assess levels of implementation of the FATF Recommendations, providing an in-depth description and analysis of each country’s system for preventing criminal abuse of the financial system Mutual Evaluations Consolidated assessment ratings
The 2022 and 2013 Methodologies for Assessing Technical Compliance with the FATF Recommendations and the Effectiveness of AML/CFT/CPF Systems
These documents are guides intended for use by assessors who are tasked with conducting a mutual evaluation. They provide a structured framework of analysis that ensures a level of consistency and high quality of the mutual evaluation reports produced. Latest update: December 2025 FATF Methodology
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