Liechtenstein with good results in MONEYVAL assessment in the area of combating money laundering and terrorist financing
Vaduz (ots)
For decades, Liechtenstein has been actively engaged in the combat against money laundering and terrorist financing and has been guided by the international standard of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Since 1999, Liechtenstein has been a member state of MONEYVAL, which is a regional body modelled on the FATF and has its headquarters at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. MONEYVAL regularly reviews the national regulations of its member states for the implementation of the FATF 40 recommendations and assesses the effectiveness of the national system for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Liechtenstein was assessed for the 5th time last year, including a two-week onsite-visit by the evaluators, who held detailed discussions with various authorities and representatives of the financial centre
Moneyval published its fifth country report on Liechtenstein on Wednesday, 29 June 2022. Liechtenstein performs well in comparison with the other countries already assessed. Due to the positive report, Liechtenstein is subject to the regular MONEYVAL reporting process and is thus one of only five MONEYVAL member countries with this result. MONEYVAL recognises the progress made by Liechtenstein and encourages the country to further strengthen measures to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The Council of Europe's anti-money laundering body draws up a comprehensive assessment of the Country's level of compliance with the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force.
With regard to the legal regulations on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, Liechtenstein is rated as "compliant" or "largely compliant" for 37 of the 40 recommendations. The central element of the MONEYVAL country assessment is the effective implementation of the legal regulations. Here, Liechtenstein performed above average in five of the eleven subject areas examined (Risk understanding, policy and coordination, international cooperation, Financial Intelligence, Confiscation, TF investigation and prosecution). MONEYVAL also did not identified significant gaps in the defence mechanism in the other areas of examination.
MONEVAL highlights the generally good understanding of money laundering and terrorist financing risks in Liechtenstein, the effective cooperation and coordination between stakeholders and the quality of the analytical activities of the FIU. MONEYVAL acknowledges that Liechtenstein has a comprehensive legal and international framework for international cooperation. MONEYVAL welcomes that the confiscation of proceeds of crime is pursued as a policy objective in Liechtenstein. The report also recognizes that law enforcement authorities are equipped with skills and knowledge to detect the collection, movement and use of funds for terrorist financing purposes. MONEYVAL also positively highlight the risk-oriented supervision introduced by the FMA in 2018 and continuously developed since then. Similarly, the report attests to the private sector's now well-developed understanding of risk and the overall robust quality of preventive measures.
The report also identifies potential for improvement on some points and contains a number of recommendations for improving the national system for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Proliferation/Terrorist Financing/Money Laundering Coordination Group (PROTEGE Working Group) will analyse the recommendations and submit a proposal to the government.
Statement of the Prime Minister:
We can really be satisfied with the results of the published Mutual Evaluation Report, as Liechtenstein has reached a good rating with regard to the effectiveness of the national system for combating money laundering and terrorist financing and its technical compliance with the FATF standard. The report confirms that Liechtenstein has a robust and comprehensive AML/CTF system and recommends measures to further improve the system. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the participants from the private and public sector who took part in this challenging and time-intensive assessment.
Contact:
Ministry of General Government Affairs and Finance
Simon Biedermann, Secretary General
T +423 236 64 47