The participation was related to the assessment of Bulgaria during the so-called Fifth Round Evaluation conducted at present by the Committee of experts on the evaluation of anti-money laundering measures and the financing of terrorism (MONEYVAL) with the Council of Europe. Within the frames of the procedure for assessment of the compliance with the FATF (Financial Task Force) Recommendations, MONEYVAL prepares an analysis on the extent to which the provisions of the national legislation respect the requirements of the Recommendations, as well as on the effectiveness of the measures applied in the sphere locally.

In relation to the evaluation a visit of a MONEYVAL assessment team was organized in Bulgaria, within which a series of interviews took place with representatives of various segments of the public and private sectors, necessary for the analysis of the financial, legal and law enforcement regulation of the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing in Bulgaria.

On the basis of their experience and expertise Nikolay Voynov and Asen Apostolov, attorneys-at-law, were selected by MONEYVAL for participation in the evaluation process as representatives of the Bulgarian Bar Association and sector of professionals providing legal services. In the course of the conducted interviews our colleagues once again emphasized on the importance of the effective application of the regulatory framework in the sphere of anti-money laundering, shared some of their experience under specific cases, as well as outlined some of the challenges in the sphere which should fall into the focus of future regulations and discussions on the topic.