Council of Europe Praises Armenia's Anti-Money Laundering Efforts
Council of Europe praises Armenia’s anti-money laundering progress, highlights remaining gaps
The Council of Europe's anti-money laundering body, MONEYVAL, released a report commending Armenia's progress in combating financial crime while identifying areas for improvement.
The assessment praised Armenia's national strategies addressing money laundering and terrorist financing risks, its Financial Intelligence Unit's expanded capabilities, and high-quality international legal cooperation. Main threats identified include fraud, embezzlement, corruption, tax crimes, drug trafficking, and cybercrime.
However, MONEYVAL called for stronger oversight of virtual asset providers, improved beneficial-ownership transparency, and increased suspicious activity reporting from the private sector. The report also noted that Armenia's money-laundering prosecutions remain low and predominantly linked to associated offenses rather than standalone laundering cases. Asset recovery results do not yet reflect criminal-asset recovery as a policy priority, though a new civil-forfeiture regime has strengthened confiscation capabilities.
