The project aims at providing support to the Republic of Moldova to enhance the effectiveness of measures against money laundering and terrorist financing. It also seeks to consolidate the capacities of dedicated structures in the field of asset recovery and parallel financial investigations.

The project addresses the current needs and deficiencies identified by the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) of the Council of Europe. It will also provide assistance towards the effective implementation of the recommendations contained in the European Commission Opinion on the Republic of Moldova’s EU membership application.

It is implemented within the third Phase of the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Partnership for Good Governance”. It builds on the results of the previous phases of the Partnership for Good Governance in the field of countering economic crime (Phase I 2015-2018 and Phase II 2019-2023).

The project has the following specific objectives:

1. Moldovan authorities, financial and non-financial institutions apply robust measures against money laundering and terrorist financing.

2. Competent authorities enhance practices for effective tracing, recovery and disposal of criminal assets.

The project is expected to achieve the following results:

1. Enhanced intra-agency information exchange for anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) purposes and use of financial intelligence;

2. Strengthened capacities for application of the AML/CFT preventive measures on a risk-sensitive basis;

3. Extended access to reliable and up-to-date information on corporate ownership and strengthened mechanism for prevention of company misuse;

4. Reinforced awareness of AML/CFT controls appropriate to the context of refugee movement and migration flows;

5. Improved capacities for investigation and prosecution of ML, perform parallel financial investigations and manage confiscated assets.