Cooperation

European Integration

By Parliament Decision no. 66/2024 The Declaration of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on the European integration of the Republic of Moldova was approved. Thus, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova reconfirmed the irreversible path of European integration and accession as a national priority project of the Republic of Moldova, and requested the Government of the Republic of Moldova to take all necessary measures to conduct and organize the process of accession to the European Union, as well as to strengthen the state institutions involved in all stages and chapters of negotiations.

By Decree of the President of the Republic of Moldova no. 1495/2024 Negotiations for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union and negotiations on the draft Treaty of Accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union were initiated.

During the first Intergovernmental Conference in Luxembourg on 25.06.2024, the negotiations for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union were officially launched and the negotiating framework was also proposed.

According to Negotiating Framework proposed by the EU for the Republic of Moldova during the first RM - EU Intergovernmental Conference on June 25, 2024:

  • În ceea ce privește principiile negocierilor, se menționează că acestea  sunt deschise pe baza faptului că Republica Moldova a atins un grad ridicat de îndeplinire a criteriilor de aderare, în special a criteriilor politice stabilite de Consiliul European de la Copenhaga din 1993, precum și a celor cu privire la asocierea politică și integrarea economică, astfel cum sunt prevăzute în Acordul de Asociere UE-Republica Moldova…UE se așteaptă ca Republica Moldova să depună eforturi pentru respectarea deplină a acestor criterii și condiții, … să asigure punerea deplină în aplicare a reformelor și a legislației esențiale, în special în domeniile fundamentale ale statului de drept, în special reforma judiciară și lupta împotriva corupției și a criminalității organizate…
  • Referitor la procedura de negociere, se menționează că, în timpul exercițiului de examinare (screening), Comisia Europeană va identifica principalele priorități ale reformei anticorupție și va evalua capacitatea administrativă relevantă… Progresele Republicii Moldova în lupta împotriva corupției, inclusiv rezultatele privind investigațiile și condamnările, vor fi monitorizate îndeaproape. În plus, politicile anticorupție vor fi integrate în toate capitolele relevante. Respectiv, un capitol nu va fi închis provizoriu înainte de punerea în aplicare a unor politici anticorupție suficiente în capitolul respectiv.

Association Agreement between the Republic of Moldova, on the one hand, and the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, on the other hand (ratified by Law no. 112/2014), provides for cooperation between the parties in the field of: preventing and combating money laundering…. which denotes that each party does its utmost to guarantee the implementation and application on its territory of internationally agreed standards on the regulation and supervision of the financial services sector and for combating fraud and tax evasion. These internationally agreed standards are, among others, the "Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision" of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the "Core Principles in Insurance" of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the "Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation" of the International Organization of Securities Regulators, the "Agreement on Exchange of Information in Tax Matters" of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the "G20 Declaration on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes" and the "Forty Recommendations on Money Laundering" and the "Nine Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing" of the Financial Action Task Force.

EU-Republic of Moldova Association Programme for the period 2021-2027, in Chapter III. Freedom, Security and Justice The area of ​​collaboration envisaged is: combating money laundering, terrorist financing and financial crime, with several short and long-term priorities being established:

  • ensuring the proper implementation and full compliance with the legal framework for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, in line with the relevant EU legal framework and the standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF);
  • monitoring the implementation of the recommendations made by MONEYVAL in the fifth round of the mutual evaluation process;
  • adopting an updated national strategy on combating money laundering and terrorist financing and ensuring its effective implementation in order to improve the system for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, in line with the recommendations of MONEYVAL and FATF;
  • further strengthening the capacity and capabilities of the financial intelligence unit and ensuring its good cooperation with counterparts in EU Member States;
  • ensuring transparency:
  • a) through effective identification through a consistent check in the register of beneficial owners at the time of registration of the legal entity;
  • b) by ensuring public access to the basic data of the beneficial owner register and to the basic data on legal entities;
  • c) by ensuring online access of national law enforcement agencies and asset recovery officers to the payment account register, in accordance with EU and FATF requirements.
  • strengthening international legal and operational cooperation through joint investigation teams, mutual legal assistance and task force mechanisms to ensure efficient and effective transnational (cross-border) investigations into high-level money laundering cases.

MONEYVAL Committee of the Council of Europe

The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Measures to Combat Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) is a monitoring body of the Council of Europe and a regional body of the Financial Action Task Force type, which assesses compliance with the main international standards to combat money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as the effectiveness of their implementation. It comprises 35 jurisdictions, of which 32 are evaluated exclusively by MONEYVAL.

Moneyval2

The Republic of Moldova, as a member of the Council of Europe, is subject to continuous assessment by MONEYVAL regarding the compliance of the domestic system in preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing with the requirements of the FATF Recommendations.

Fifth round of evaluation

On July 17, 2019, at the Planned Meeting No. 60 of the MONEYVAL Committee, the Evaluation Report of the Republic of Moldova in the 5th evaluation round was approved. SPCSB, leading the delegation of the Republic of Moldova to this specialized Committee, coordinated the activities related to the Country Progress Report, and Government Provision No. 6/2020 was adopted, establishing the working group formed by representatives of national authorities.

Fourth round of evaluation

On 4 December 2012, at the 40th Planned Meeting of the MONEYVAL Committee, the Evaluation Report of the Republic of Moldova in the 4th round of evaluation was approved. The fourth round of mutual evaluations was essentially a continuation of the third round. The evaluation team examined the effectiveness of the implementation of the FATF Core and Key Recommendations, together with the other recommendations.

Third round of evaluation

The third round of assessment, the report of which was approved in December 2007, describes and analyses measures and provides recommendations on how certain aspects of the system could be strengthened and establishes the levels of compliance of the Republic of Moldova with the 40 FATF recommendations and the 9 special recommendations on terrorist financing.

Second round of evaluation

In the context of the second evaluation, a team of MONEYVAL evaluators, accompanied by colleagues from FATF, visited the Republic of Moldova between 12 and 16 May 2003, almost three years after the visit carried out in connection with the first round of evaluation.

First round of evaluation

A team of expert assessors from PC-R-EV, accompanied by colleagues from FATF, visited the Republic of Moldova from June 20 to 23, 2000, for its first round of assessment of the country.

Conference of the Parties of the Member States of the CETs 198

Conference of the Parties of the Member States of the Council of Europe Convention CETs 198 (COP CETS 198) is the body for monitoring and coordinating the implementation Warsaw Convention – Council of Europe Convention on the Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of TerrorismAdopted in 2005 and entered into force in 2008, it is the first comprehensive international treaty regulating both the preventive and repressive dimensions of combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

Cop

The CETs 198 Convention is a key legal instrument of the Council of Europe, which reinforces and complements existing global standards, including those promoted by the FATF. It sets out detailed requirements on:

  • preventive regimes to combat money laundering and terrorist financing;
  • provisional measures, including the freezing and seizure of assets;
  • confiscation of proceeds of crime and property used or intended for criminal activities;
  • administration and management of frozen and confiscated assets;
  • sharing of assets between States Parties;
  • the role and functioning of financial intelligence units;
  • international cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

COP CETS 198 is responsible for assessing the implementation of the Convention by States Parties, adopting assessment and progress reports, and formulating recommendations to strengthen the effectiveness of the national legal and institutional framework. The monitoring mechanism of COP CETS 198 is horizontal and complementary to other international assessment mechanisms, providing an in-depth perspective on the practical application of the Convention.

In this context, the representative of the Service, who holds the position of President of the Conference of the Parties of the Member States of COP CETS 198, chaired the 16th meeting of COP CETS 198, confirming the active and recognized role of the Republic of Moldova in the European and international architecture of combating financial crime.

In accordance with the monitoring procedures of the Convention, this meeting examined:

  • the evaluation report of the Kingdom of Morocco, this being the first non-member state of the Council of Europe to undergo a horizontal evaluation within the framework of COP CETS 198, reflecting the opening of the Convention to third states and its global relevance;
  • the evaluation report of Aruba, a territory to which the Warsaw Convention applies following the official declaration made by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

An important moment of the meeting was the examination and adoption of the application for accession of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the CETS 198 Convention. The application was supported by the majority of delegations, highlighting the benefits of accession, including the strengthening of international cooperation, the facilitation of mutual legal assistance, positive experiences in the field of information exchange and the progress achieved in bilateral negotiations with the States Parties.

Overall, the active involvement of the Republic of Moldova in COP CETS 198, including through the exercise of the presidency, reflects the firm commitment of the national authorities to promote international standards in the field of combating money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as to contribute substantially to the strengthening of legal and institutional cooperation at the European and international levels.

EGMONT Group

The Egmont Group is an informal international organization, created in 1995, that brings together Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) from around the world. The main purpose of the Egmont Group is to facilitate international cooperation, the efficient and secure exchange of information, and to strengthen the institutional capacities of FIUs in the field of preventing and combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other serious financial crimes.

The Egmont Group provides its members with an institutionalized platform for dialogue and cooperation, supporting the implementation of international standards promoted, in particular, by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Through policy documents, operational guidelines, information exchange principles and secure communication mechanisms (including the Egmont Secure Web network), the organization contributes to streamlining cross-border cooperation between FIUs.

Egmont

From an organizational point of view, the Egmont Group operates through a structure that includes:

  • The Egmont Committee, responsible for strategic coordination and decision-making;
  • 9 regional groups, designed to ensure cooperation and representation specific to geographical areas;
  • 4 thematic working groups, focused on issues such as information exchange, compliance and accession procedures, technical assistance and training.

Republic of Moldova is part of the Egmont Group through the Office for the Prevention and Fight against Money Laundering (SPCSB). Following institutional efforts to align with international standards and to consolidate the legal and operational framework, the Republic of Moldova became, on May 27, 2008, a full member of the Egmont Group. This accession represented both an international recognition of the SPCSB as a functional FIU compliant with international standards, and an essential step in the country's integration into global cooperation mechanisms in the field of combating financial crime.

SPCSB is part of Regional Group Europe II, which includes FIUs from Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. The Service is actively involved in the activities of the Egmont Group, including at the decision-making and coordination level. The SPCSB representative holds a mandate as a regional representative of the Europe II Group, which reflects the active role of the Republic of Moldova in promoting best practices, strengthening information exchange and developing regional cooperation.

A central element of the SPCSB's activity within the Egmont Group is ensuring effective external collaboration, based on the rapid, confidential and secure exchange of financial information. Membership in the Egmont Group allows the Service to request and provide relevant information to its counterparts in other states, thus contributing to the identification of illicit financial flows, supporting criminal investigations and protecting the integrity of the national and international financial system.

Overall, the participation of the Republic of Moldova in the Egmont Group strengthens the state's international credibility in the field of preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing and represents an essential tool for effective international cooperation in the face of cross-border financial risks.