Prince’s Government welcomes progress highlighted in MONEYVAL Fifth Evaluation Round follow-up report

Since the MONEYVAL evaluation report on anti-money laundering measures and the financing of terrorism was published by the Council of Europe in January 2023, the Principality of Monaco has made significant improvements to its national anti-money laundering system. The country’s level of technical compliance with international standards is now very high.

On 10 December, MONEYVAL, the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism, published its first follow-up report for the Principality of Monaco, which highlighted “significant progress in the level of compliance”. This allowed the 15 Recommendations (FATF rules) covered by Monaco’s request to be re-rated positively, bringing the total number of Recommendations with which the country is largely or fully compliant to 39 out of 40.

This remarkable evaluation is the result of an enormous effort initiated by the Sovereign Prince and carried out by the Prince’s Government, working with the National Council, all Monegasque departments and authorities involved in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and the private sector.

Monaco was also keen to thank MONEYVAL for the quality of the discussions held and the efforts made by its teams, both in the Secretariat and across all of those who worked on the follow-up report.

In the space of 16 months, four acts were published, comprising 481 articles, which resulted in the amendment of 11 acts, one Sovereign Ordinance and three codes, and in the drafting of many implementing regulations. Before the mutual evaluation report for Monaco was published in January 2023, five acts were adopted in December 2022, including a total of 73 articles, which introduced amendments to two acts and two codes.

These legislative measures were also accompanied by the development and implementation of a comprehensive national strategy, improved cooperation at the national and international levels, the establishment of new institutions (the Coordination Committee, the Monegasque Financial Security Authority (AMSF) and the Seized or Confiscated Assets Management Department, among others), as well as an increase in the number of money laundering investigations, in line with Monaco’s risk profile and the improvement in financial transparency.

This progress is a tribute to the strong commitment shown by all concerned in ensuring that the Principality of Monaco complies with international standards on tackling money laundering, the financing of terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and corruption.

However, all public and private stakeholders in the Principality are continuing their efforts to make improvements in pursuit of a shared goal: removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, which will be achieved through implementation of the action plan agreed with FATF in June 2024. This positive outcome could be reached in mid-2026.

Pierre-André Chiappori, Minister of Finance and Economy, said: “Today, we are sending a very positive signal to the international community. But our efforts continue apace to ensure removal from the FATF grey list according to the schedule we have agreed.”