Skopje, 3 March 2023

The cooperation between the National Bank and the German Society for International Cooperation, which is closely established by the concluded Memorandum, will contribute to further strengthening of the activities for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. The Memorandum envisages provision of financial support for constant access of the authorized supervisors of the National Bank to the international database, which contributes to meeting the legal competences of the central bank for licensing and conducting supervision. Subject matter of the meeting of the Governor Anita Angelovska Bezhoska and Viktorija Gligorova, the General Director of the Supervision Sector with David Oberhuber, the Director of the GIZ Office to North Macedonia and Ilija Bundaleski, Adviser in the Global Program for Prevention of Illicit Cash Flows to North Macedonia, were also the next steps for further improvement of the activities for preventing illicit financial flows. 

The Governor Anita Angelovska Bezhoska emphasized that the supervisory authorizations of the National Bank, as one of the institutions that contributes to the area of anti-money laundering, require implementation of certain measures and actions against banks, savings houses, exchange offices and fast money transfer service providers, as well as against other financial institutions that provide payment services for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Through the mutual cooperation with the GIZ, as well as the support for connecting the National Bank to the platform, the database, the supervisors of the National Bank will have access to international data sources for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, primarily to lists with international sanctions and to other relevant data. Moreover, she added that the Memorandum provides for higher efficiency in the implementation of the recommendations and the international standards that aim to prevent these illegal activities and the damage they cause to society, adopted by the global monitoring body for money laundering and financing terrorism - the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development together with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs allowed the GIZ a mandate through the Global Program for Dealing with Illicit Financial Flows to conduct its activities which provide support for strengthening and developing global, regional and national systems for combat against illicit financial flows. The GIZ has been actively engaged in the Republic of North Macedonia since 1992 establishing cooperation with the local partners devoted to supporting the reform efforts of the country in the EU through various innovative development approaches.