|
|
Sanctions:
None applicable.
____________________________________________________
Offshore Jurisdiction Blacklists:
Information unavailable.
____________________________________________________
US State Department Money Laundering Report - 2011:
Romania’s geographical location makes it a natural transit country
for trafficking in narcotics, arms, stolen vehicles and persons by
transnational organized criminal elements. As a result, Romania is
vulnerable to financial activities associated with such crimes,
including money laundering. Tax fraud, fraudulent claims in
consumer lending, and trans-border smuggling of counterfeit
goods are additional types of financial crimes prevalent in
Romania. Laundered money comes primarily from international
crime syndicates who conduct their criminal activity in Romania,
and subsequently launder their illicit proceeds through illegitimate
front companies. Commercial transactions have been the main
method of money laundering, primarily through use of shell and
offshore companies; this principally involves fraudulent claims for
value added tax (VAT) reimbursement.
Romania also has some of the highest rates of cybercrime and
online credit card fraud in the world. Studies have found
Romanian servers to be the second largest source of cybercrime
transactions worldwide. Although a majority of their victims reside
in the United States, Romanian cyber-criminals are increasingly
targeting victims elsewhere in Europe, as well as in Romania itself.
For 2010, Romania has not reported any cases of money
laundering derived from drug trafficking or corruption, and only
one case of money laundering where smuggling was the predicate
offense.
DO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ENGAGE IN CURRENCY
TRANSACTIONS RELATED TO INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS
TRAFFICKING THAT INCLUDE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF U.S.
CURRENCY; CURRENCY DERIVED FROM ILLEGAL SALES IN
THE U.S.; OR THAT OTHERWISE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE
U.S.: NO
CRIMINALIZATION OF MONEY LAUNDERING:
“All serious crimes” approach or “list” approach to predicate
crimes: All serious crimes
Legal persons covered: criminally: YES civilly: YES
CRIMINALIZATION OF TERRORIST FINANCING:
Ability to freeze terrorist assets without delay: YES
UN lists of designated terrorists or terrorist entities distributed to
financial institutions: YES
(Please refer to the Department of State’s Country Reports on
Terrorism, which can be found here: http://www.state.
gov/s/ct/rls/crt/)
KNOW-YOUR-CUSTOMER RULES:
Covered entities: Banks; non-banking financial institutions;
insurers and re-insurers; securities brokers; private pension
funds; accounting, consulting, audit and law firms; notaries; and
real estate brokers
Enhanced due diligence procedures for PEPs: Foreign: YES
Domestic: YES
SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:
Covered entities: Banks; non-banking financial institutions;
insurers and re-insurers; securities brokers; private pension
funds; accounting, consulting, audit and law firms; notaries; and
real estate brokers
Number of STRs received and time frame: 2,944 from January to
November, 2010
Number of CTRs received and time frame: 38,269 from January to
November, 2010
MONEY LAUNDERING CRIMINAL
PROSECUTIONS/CONVICTIONS:
Prosecutions: 143 from January to October, 2010
Convictions: Not available
Assets forfeited: criminally: Not available civilly: Not
RECORDS EXCHANGE MECHANISM:
With U.S.: YES
With other governments/jurisdictions: YES
Romania is a member of MONEYVAL, a Financial Action Task
Force (FATF)-style regional body. Its most recent mutual
evaluation can be found here: http://www.coe.
int/t/dghl/monitoring/moneyval/Evaluations/round3/MONEYVAL%
282008%2906Rep-ROM3_en.pdf
ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES AND
COMMENTS:
The Government of Romania (GOR) should continue its efforts to
ensure that non-bank financial institutions are adequately
supervised. Additionally, the knowledge level of this sector should
be increased regarding its reporting and record keeping
responsibilities and the identification of suspicious transactions.
Romania’s FIU faces the continual challenge of limited financial,
human, and technical resources. The GOR should continue to
improve communication between reporting and monitoring
entities, as well as between prosecutors and the FIU. Romania’s
FIU received training in these areas during 2010, through the
European Union’s Twinning program. The Twinning program
produced a new on-line secure reporting system, as well as a
manual on the risk-based approach and suspicious transaction
indicators for reporting entities. The GOR also passed a National
Strategy for the Prevention and Combat of Money Laundering and
Terrorism Financing through the program.
In order to improve the rate of money laundering prosecutions
and convictions, Romania should not become overly reliant on
STRs and other forms of financial intelligence but rather empower
law enforcement and customs authorities to detect and investigate
money laundering at the street level and at borders and ports.
Romania should improve implementation of existing procedures
for the timely freezing, seizure, and forfeiture of criminal or
terrorist-related assets. Romania should continue to make
progress in combating corruption in government and commerce.
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Narcotics Report 2012 (introduction):
Romania is not a major source of illicit narcotics, but continues to
be a significant transit country for narcotics and lies along the well-
established Northern Balkan Route for opium, morphine base,
heroin, and chemical precursors moving to and from Afghanistan,
Central and Western Europe. The largest cocaine seizure in all of
Europe in 2009 (over 2 metric tons) took place in Constanta, its
largest port city. Romania and other Black Sea Eastern European
countries are becoming increasingly popular among international
cocaine traffickers looking for alternative entry points into
Western Europe’s lucrative cocaine markets. Romania’s long
Black Sea coastline and its large deep-water port of Constanta
likely are being used as secondary cocaine entry points into
Europe. The global economic crisis continued to impact on all
Romanian government agencies, and resources for
counternarcotics units were more scarce than usual. Despite
these challenges, Romanian authorities continue to work closely
with U.S. and regional counterparts on successful and effective
international seizure operations. Drug use in Romania has
increased in recent years, due in part to an increased poverty
level, with a noted increase in the use of synthetic narcotics and
heroin.
Romania is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. Romania and
the U.S. are also parties to a bilateral extradition treaty and a
mutual legal assistance treaty, which was amended by a Protocol
in 1999. Both the Extradition Treaty and the Protocol fulfill the
requirements for bilateral instruments that are contained in the
Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance Agreements between the
United States and the EU. The U.S. and Romania also have a
customs mutual assistance agreement in force. Romania is party
to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and
its three protocols, and the UN Convention Against Corruption.
Full Report
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2011
(introduction):
(Tier 2)
Romania is a source, transit, and destination country for men,
women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and
children subjected to sex trafficking. Romanian men, women, and
children are subjected to forced labor in agriculture and
manufacturing, as well as some forced begging in Spain, Italy, the
Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Israel, Germany, Slovenia, the
United Kingdom (UK), Cyprus, Australia, France, Belgium, and the
United States. A large proportion of the children forced to beg in
Western European countries were Romanian victims of Roma
ethnicity. Men, women, and children from Romania are victims of
forced prostitution in Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, the
United Kingdom, Greece, Germany, Cyprus, Austria, Switzerland,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Brazil, Norway, Hungary, Slovenia,
and France. Forced labor and sex trafficking within the country
claim Romanian men, women, and children as victims; this
includes forced begging and forced petty theft. There were
reports that ethnic Roma criminal groups in Romania exploited
Romanians throughout Europe. Romania is a destination country
for a small number of women from Moldova, Colombia, and France
who are forced into prostitution and for Honduran men subjected
to forced labor. The majority of identified Romanian victims are
victims of forced labor, including forced begging. The number of
Romanian boys subjected to sex trafficking increased.
The Government of Romania does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. Over the reporting period, the
government increased the number of victims identified and
assisted and amended its human trafficking law to explicitly
prohibit forced begging. Despite evidence of a large number of
Romanian labor trafficking victims, the government did not
indicate whether it investigated, prosecuted, or convicted any
labor trafficking offenders. Additionally, there were reports that
prosecutors brought prostitution charges against trafficking
victims.
For full report click here
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Terrorism Report 2009
The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) assessed that the
terrorism threat in Romania was low, both in Romania and to
Romanians and Romanian interests abroad. Romania also began
implementation of the “National Anti-Terrorism Strategy,” which
proved an effective mechanism for preventing the use of
Romanian financial institutions, including the national banking
system, for the purpose of financing terrorist-related activities.
The Romanian Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT)
viewed terrorism as a high priority and ensured political and
material support for the National System for Preventing and
Countering Terrorism (NSPCT), in particular by assigning the SRI
as the national authority for counterterrorism and the technical
coordinator of the NSPCT.
Romania continued to provide a wide array of public, military, and
diplomatic support to global counterterrorism efforts. On July 1,
Romanian President Traian Basescu declared that Romania’s
mission in Iraq was completed; from January through June,
Romania was the third largest troop contributor in Iraq, by
invitation of the Government of Iraq. Approximately five Romanian
soldiers remained in Iraq after July 1, as part of the NATO training
mission. As of December, approximately 1,050 Romanian troops
were serving as part of coalition and NATO Alliance efforts in
Afghanistan, primarily in the Zabul and Kandahar regions.
Romania also continued to make airspace, ground infrastructure,
and naval facilities available to U.S. and NATO forces.
____________________________________________________
Links:
Worldwide AML Legislation (International Bar Association)
None applicable.
____________________________________________________
Offshore Jurisdiction Blacklists:
Information unavailable.
____________________________________________________
US State Department Money Laundering Report - 2011:
Romania’s geographical location makes it a natural transit country
for trafficking in narcotics, arms, stolen vehicles and persons by
transnational organized criminal elements. As a result, Romania is
vulnerable to financial activities associated with such crimes,
including money laundering. Tax fraud, fraudulent claims in
consumer lending, and trans-border smuggling of counterfeit
goods are additional types of financial crimes prevalent in
Romania. Laundered money comes primarily from international
crime syndicates who conduct their criminal activity in Romania,
and subsequently launder their illicit proceeds through illegitimate
front companies. Commercial transactions have been the main
method of money laundering, primarily through use of shell and
offshore companies; this principally involves fraudulent claims for
value added tax (VAT) reimbursement.
Romania also has some of the highest rates of cybercrime and
online credit card fraud in the world. Studies have found
Romanian servers to be the second largest source of cybercrime
transactions worldwide. Although a majority of their victims reside
in the United States, Romanian cyber-criminals are increasingly
targeting victims elsewhere in Europe, as well as in Romania itself.
For 2010, Romania has not reported any cases of money
laundering derived from drug trafficking or corruption, and only
one case of money laundering where smuggling was the predicate
offense.
DO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ENGAGE IN CURRENCY
TRANSACTIONS RELATED TO INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS
TRAFFICKING THAT INCLUDE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF U.S.
CURRENCY; CURRENCY DERIVED FROM ILLEGAL SALES IN
THE U.S.; OR THAT OTHERWISE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE
U.S.: NO
CRIMINALIZATION OF MONEY LAUNDERING:
“All serious crimes” approach or “list” approach to predicate
crimes: All serious crimes
Legal persons covered: criminally: YES civilly: YES
CRIMINALIZATION OF TERRORIST FINANCING:
Ability to freeze terrorist assets without delay: YES
UN lists of designated terrorists or terrorist entities distributed to
financial institutions: YES
(Please refer to the Department of State’s Country Reports on
Terrorism, which can be found here: http://www.state.
gov/s/ct/rls/crt/)
KNOW-YOUR-CUSTOMER RULES:
Covered entities: Banks; non-banking financial institutions;
insurers and re-insurers; securities brokers; private pension
funds; accounting, consulting, audit and law firms; notaries; and
real estate brokers
Enhanced due diligence procedures for PEPs: Foreign: YES
Domestic: YES
SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:
Covered entities: Banks; non-banking financial institutions;
insurers and re-insurers; securities brokers; private pension
funds; accounting, consulting, audit and law firms; notaries; and
real estate brokers
Number of STRs received and time frame: 2,944 from January to
November, 2010
Number of CTRs received and time frame: 38,269 from January to
November, 2010
MONEY LAUNDERING CRIMINAL
PROSECUTIONS/CONVICTIONS:
Prosecutions: 143 from January to October, 2010
Convictions: Not available
Assets forfeited: criminally: Not available civilly: Not
RECORDS EXCHANGE MECHANISM:
With U.S.: YES
With other governments/jurisdictions: YES
Romania is a member of MONEYVAL, a Financial Action Task
Force (FATF)-style regional body. Its most recent mutual
evaluation can be found here: http://www.coe.
int/t/dghl/monitoring/moneyval/Evaluations/round3/MONEYVAL%
282008%2906Rep-ROM3_en.pdf
ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES AND
COMMENTS:
The Government of Romania (GOR) should continue its efforts to
ensure that non-bank financial institutions are adequately
supervised. Additionally, the knowledge level of this sector should
be increased regarding its reporting and record keeping
responsibilities and the identification of suspicious transactions.
Romania’s FIU faces the continual challenge of limited financial,
human, and technical resources. The GOR should continue to
improve communication between reporting and monitoring
entities, as well as between prosecutors and the FIU. Romania’s
FIU received training in these areas during 2010, through the
European Union’s Twinning program. The Twinning program
produced a new on-line secure reporting system, as well as a
manual on the risk-based approach and suspicious transaction
indicators for reporting entities. The GOR also passed a National
Strategy for the Prevention and Combat of Money Laundering and
Terrorism Financing through the program.
In order to improve the rate of money laundering prosecutions
and convictions, Romania should not become overly reliant on
STRs and other forms of financial intelligence but rather empower
law enforcement and customs authorities to detect and investigate
money laundering at the street level and at borders and ports.
Romania should improve implementation of existing procedures
for the timely freezing, seizure, and forfeiture of criminal or
terrorist-related assets. Romania should continue to make
progress in combating corruption in government and commerce.
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Narcotics Report 2012 (introduction):
Romania is not a major source of illicit narcotics, but continues to
be a significant transit country for narcotics and lies along the well-
established Northern Balkan Route for opium, morphine base,
heroin, and chemical precursors moving to and from Afghanistan,
Central and Western Europe. The largest cocaine seizure in all of
Europe in 2009 (over 2 metric tons) took place in Constanta, its
largest port city. Romania and other Black Sea Eastern European
countries are becoming increasingly popular among international
cocaine traffickers looking for alternative entry points into
Western Europe’s lucrative cocaine markets. Romania’s long
Black Sea coastline and its large deep-water port of Constanta
likely are being used as secondary cocaine entry points into
Europe. The global economic crisis continued to impact on all
Romanian government agencies, and resources for
counternarcotics units were more scarce than usual. Despite
these challenges, Romanian authorities continue to work closely
with U.S. and regional counterparts on successful and effective
international seizure operations. Drug use in Romania has
increased in recent years, due in part to an increased poverty
level, with a noted increase in the use of synthetic narcotics and
heroin.
Romania is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. Romania and
the U.S. are also parties to a bilateral extradition treaty and a
mutual legal assistance treaty, which was amended by a Protocol
in 1999. Both the Extradition Treaty and the Protocol fulfill the
requirements for bilateral instruments that are contained in the
Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance Agreements between the
United States and the EU. The U.S. and Romania also have a
customs mutual assistance agreement in force. Romania is party
to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and
its three protocols, and the UN Convention Against Corruption.
Full Report
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2011
(introduction):
(Tier 2)
Romania is a source, transit, and destination country for men,
women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and
children subjected to sex trafficking. Romanian men, women, and
children are subjected to forced labor in agriculture and
manufacturing, as well as some forced begging in Spain, Italy, the
Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Israel, Germany, Slovenia, the
United Kingdom (UK), Cyprus, Australia, France, Belgium, and the
United States. A large proportion of the children forced to beg in
Western European countries were Romanian victims of Roma
ethnicity. Men, women, and children from Romania are victims of
forced prostitution in Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, the
United Kingdom, Greece, Germany, Cyprus, Austria, Switzerland,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Brazil, Norway, Hungary, Slovenia,
and France. Forced labor and sex trafficking within the country
claim Romanian men, women, and children as victims; this
includes forced begging and forced petty theft. There were
reports that ethnic Roma criminal groups in Romania exploited
Romanians throughout Europe. Romania is a destination country
for a small number of women from Moldova, Colombia, and France
who are forced into prostitution and for Honduran men subjected
to forced labor. The majority of identified Romanian victims are
victims of forced labor, including forced begging. The number of
Romanian boys subjected to sex trafficking increased.
The Government of Romania does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. Over the reporting period, the
government increased the number of victims identified and
assisted and amended its human trafficking law to explicitly
prohibit forced begging. Despite evidence of a large number of
Romanian labor trafficking victims, the government did not
indicate whether it investigated, prosecuted, or convicted any
labor trafficking offenders. Additionally, there were reports that
prosecutors brought prostitution charges against trafficking
victims.
For full report click here
____________________________________________________
US State Dept Terrorism Report 2009
The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) assessed that the
terrorism threat in Romania was low, both in Romania and to
Romanians and Romanian interests abroad. Romania also began
implementation of the “National Anti-Terrorism Strategy,” which
proved an effective mechanism for preventing the use of
Romanian financial institutions, including the national banking
system, for the purpose of financing terrorist-related activities.
The Romanian Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT)
viewed terrorism as a high priority and ensured political and
material support for the National System for Preventing and
Countering Terrorism (NSPCT), in particular by assigning the SRI
as the national authority for counterterrorism and the technical
coordinator of the NSPCT.
Romania continued to provide a wide array of public, military, and
diplomatic support to global counterterrorism efforts. On July 1,
Romanian President Traian Basescu declared that Romania’s
mission in Iraq was completed; from January through June,
Romania was the third largest troop contributor in Iraq, by
invitation of the Government of Iraq. Approximately five Romanian
soldiers remained in Iraq after July 1, as part of the NATO training
mission. As of December, approximately 1,050 Romanian troops
were serving as part of coalition and NATO Alliance efforts in
Afghanistan, primarily in the Zabul and Kandahar regions.
Romania also continued to make airspace, ground infrastructure,
and naval facilities available to U.S. and NATO forces.
____________________________________________________
Links:
Worldwide AML Legislation (International Bar Association)
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| Further Tables |
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*Please note that FATF deems that a country has significant aml deficiencies if any
of the 'Core' Recommendations, R1, R5, R10, R13, SRII, or SRIV are rated either
Partially of Non-Compliant. These are marked in red.
For FATF to remove a country from the regular follow-up process, it has to be rated
Compliant or Largely Compliant in the above mentioned Core Recommendations
and the following Key Recommendations: -
R3, R4, R23, R26, R35, R36, R40, SRI, SRIII, SRV
Please also note that any risk assessment should take into consideration all
follow-up reports.
of the 'Core' Recommendations, R1, R5, R10, R13, SRII, or SRIV are rated either
Partially of Non-Compliant. These are marked in red.
For FATF to remove a country from the regular follow-up process, it has to be rated
Compliant or Largely Compliant in the above mentioned Core Recommendations
and the following Key Recommendations: -
R3, R4, R23, R26, R35, R36, R40, SRI, SRIII, SRV
Please also note that any risk assessment should take into consideration all
follow-up reports.
| ROMANIA |
| KnowYourCountry |
|
|
AML News / Updates
April 11, 2012 - IMF Report - Romania - Fourth Review Under the
Stand-By Arrangement and Request for Modification of Performance
Criteria (including information on financial sector and fiscal policy)
Read Report
April 11, 2012 - IMF Report - Romania - Fourth Review Under the
Stand-By Arrangement and Request for Modification of Performance
Criteria (including information on financial sector and fiscal policy)
Read Report
| Last Updated: 16 April 2012 |