Financial Intelligence Agency

Inter – Institutional Cooperation

The Coordinating Committee on the Fight Against Money Laundering (CCFAML) is tasked with defining the directions of the overall state policy in the area of preventing and combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and it plays an effective role in strengthening inter-institutional cooperation.

The Committee is led by the Prime Minister and includes the Minister responsible for finance, the Minister responsible for foreign affairs, the Minister responsible for defense issues, the Minister responsible for public order and security, the Minister responsible for justice matters, the Attorney General, the Head of the Special Prosecution, the Governor of the Bank of Albania, the Executive Director of the Financial Supervisory Authority, the Director of the State Information Service, the Inspector General of the High Inspectorate for Declaration and Control of Assets and Conflict of Interest, the Director of the National Bureau of Investigation, and the General Director of the State Police.

The Committee meets at least once a year to review and analyze reports on the activities carried out by the responsible authority, as well as reports on documents prepared by international institutions and organizations that operate in the field of combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The General Director of the responsible authority (Financial Intelligence Agency) acts as an advisor in the meetings of this committee.

The Inter-Institutional Technical Working Group (ITWG) was established by CCFAML in December 2023 as a dedicated structure aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

ITWG consists of 38 members, with 28 representatives from public institutions: the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption, the High Judicial Council, the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction in Tirana, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Special Prosecutor’s Office, the National Bureau of Investigation, the State Information Service, the General Directorate of State Police, the Bank of Albania, the Financial Supervisory Authority, the High Inspectorate of Declaration and Audit of Assets and Conflict of Interest, the National Agency for Information Society, the Center Against Violent Extremism, the General Directorate of Taxes, the Financial Intelligence Agency, the General Directorate of Customs, the National Business Center, the Public Oversight Board, the State Cadastre Agency, the Agency for the Management of Seized and Confiscated Assets, the Authority for the Supervision of Gambling, the State Control Authority for Exports and the Agency for Intelligence and Defense Security.

To strengthen public-private partnerships, ITWG also includes 10 representatives from the private sector, primarily representatives of reporting entities under the law for the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, specifically: the National Chamber of Notaries, the Bar Association of Albania, the Albanian Banking Association, the Association of Real Estate Intermediaries (NAREA), the Institute of Authorized Accounting Experts (IEKA), the Association of Foreign Exchange Agencies (AFEA), the Albanian Builders Association, the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), the Albanian Microfinance Association, and the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

CCFAML has assigned ITWG three priority tasks to follow:

  • Drafting of the National Strategy “For the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing 2024-2030” along with its action plan. For additional details, please refer to this link https://fiu.gov.al/en/legislation/ml-tf-national-strategy/ ;
  • Preparation for the 6th round of evaluation by the MONEYVAL Committee;
  • Monitoring the implementation of the National Risk Assessment (NRA) Action Plan.

ITWG has established several working subgroups:

  • Subgroup “For virtual assets”;
  • Subgroup “For the collection and quality of information for criminal investigations related to PP/FT”;
  • Subgroup “For risk analysis concerning categories of NGOs that are more vulnerable to misuse or abuse for terrorism financing”;
  • Subgroup “For the preparation of a summary with indicators and typologies related to criminal acts in the field of taxes and duties”.

GTNP meets periodically with representatives from public institutions and the private sector: