site.btaFinal Evaluation on Bulgaria's FATF Grey List Removal Coming Up, Country Has Met All Recommendations - Justice Ministry

The Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) Wednesday said that it has closed the 5th evaluation round for Bulgaria. The country has implemented all 40 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations at the level of compliant or largely compliant, the Justice Ministry reported.

The FATF's final evaluation regarding Bulgaria's removal from its Grey List is still pending, the Ministry said. The List includes countries with strategic deficiencies in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Bulgaria was added to the Grey List in 2023 and remains the only EU Member State on it. 

MONEYVAL finds that, since the previous monitoring report adopted in June 2025, Bulgaria has improved its technical compliance with eight FATF recommendations on confiscation and provisional measures, the terrorist financing offence, targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation, non-profit organisations, correspondent banking, sanctions and mutual legal assistance.

Since MONEYVAL adopted its mutual evaluation report on Bulgaria in May 2022, the authorities have taken numerous steps to strengthen the country’s legal framework to counter money laundering and terrorist financing. As of June 17, Bulgaria has been rated as compliant on 13 recommendations and largely compliant on 27 recommendations, the MONEYVAL said.

On May 11, a Bulgarian delegation led by Justice Minister Naydenov conferred in Helsinki with FATF representatives ahead of the adoption of the eighth progress report on the implementation by Bulgaria of its action plan for removal from the FATF Grey List. Back then, the Justice Ministry said the results of the meeting would become known in June.