Spain’s progress to improve effectiveness in combating money laundering and terrorist financing

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English

Country

Spain

Follow-Up Assessment Spain 2019

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Follow-Up-Assessment-Spain-2019.pdf
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4 December 2019 – Since its mutual evaluation in 2014, Spain has worked to improve the effectiveness of its national framework to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

The FATF has conducted a 5th year follow-up a  Follow-Up Assessment of Spain that looks at the effectiveness of Spain’s measures on three issues, or ‘Immediate outcomes’. To reflect the country’s progress, the FATF has re-rated Spain on two of these immediate outcomes. 

  • Preventive Measures (Immediate Outcome 4)

Spain is now achieving a substantial level of effectiveness in ensuring that financial institutions and lawyers, real estate agents and other non-financial businesses and professions apply preventive measures to address the money laundering and terrorist financing risks they face, and report suspicious transactions. FATF re-rated Spain from Moderate to Substantial.

Spain took action to address all of the priority and recommendation actions identified in the 2014 mutual evaluation. This resulted in better supervision of lawyers, real estate agents and other non-financial businesses and professions. Spanish authorities also raised awareness with the financial sector, in particular money value transfer services, and non-financial businesses and professions about the money laundering and terrorist financing risks they could face and the measures they can implement to mitigate these risks. Spain also improved its management of foreign trust and anti-tipping off measures.

  • PF Financial Sanctions (Immediate Outcome 11)

Spain is now achieving a substantial level of effectiveness in preventing persons and entities involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction from raising, moving and using funds, consistent with the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions. The FATF re-rated Spain from Moderate to Substantial.

Spain has established several coordination mechanisms to prevent the financing of weapons of mass destruction. Spain has demonstrated that whether it is through law enforcement investigations or supervision of reporting entities, they are able to identify and disrupt those looking to evade proliferation-financing sanctions.

Spain is now achieving high or substantial levels of effectiveness on 10 of the 11 key areas identified by the FATF as Immediate Outcomes of an effective framework to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

Spain must now focus on strengthening the effectiveness of its measure to prevent terrorists and terrorist organisations from raising, moving and using funds and from abusing the non-profit sector.

Technical compliance

During the five years that have passed since the mutual evaluation, Spain has worked to improve its technical compliance with the FATF’s requirements. To reflect this progress, the FATF re-rated Spain on three Recommendations in 2018 and the country is now compliant or largely compliant on 38 of the 40 Recommendations. The follow-up report is available here.    

Technical Compliance

Ratings which reflect the extent to which a country has implemented the technical requirements of the FATF Recommendations.

Spain Follow-Up Assessment - 2019

R.1 - Assessing risk & applying risk-based approach
C
R.2 - National cooperation and coordination
LC
R.3 - Money laundering offence
LC
R.4 - Confiscation and provisional measures
C
R.5 - Terrorist financing offence
C
R.6 - Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism & terrorist financing
PC
R.7 - Targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation
PC
R.8 - Non-profit organisations
LC
R.9 - Financial institution secrecy laws
C
R.10 - Customer due diligence
LC
R.11 - Record keeping
C
R.12 - Politically exposed persons
C
R.13 - Correspondent banking
C
R.14 - Money or value transfer services
C
R.15 - New technologies
C
R.16 - Wire transfers
C
R.17 - Reliance on third parties
LC
R.18 - Internal controls and foreign branches and subsidiaries
C
R.19 - Higher-risk countries
C
R.20 - Reporting of suspicious transactions
C
R.21 - Tipping-off and confidentiality
C
R.22 - DNFBPs: Customer due diligence
LC
R.23 - DNFBPs: Other measures
C
R.24 - Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons
LC
R.25 - Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements
LC
R.26 - Regulation and supervision of financial institutions
LC
R.27 - Powers of supervisors
C
R.28 - Regulation and supervision of DNFBPs
LC
R.29 - Financial intelligence units
C
R.30 - Responsibilities of law enforcement and investigative authorities
C
R.31 - Powers of law enforcement and investigative authorities
C
R.32 - Cash couriers
C
R.33 - Statistics
C
R.34 - Guidance and feedback
C
R.35- Sanctions
C
R.36 - International instruments
C
R.37 - Mutual legal assistance
C
R.38 - Mutual legal assistance: freezing and confiscation
C
R.39 - Extradition
C
R.40 - Other forms of international cooperation
C

C = compliant   |   LC = largely compliant     |   PC = partially compliant   |   NC = non-compliant

Earlier reports

  • 20 Mar 2018

    Spain's progress in strengthening measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing This report analyses Spain's progress in addressing the technical compliance deficiencies identified in the FATF assessment of their measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing of December 2014. The report also looks at whether Spain has implemented new measures to meet the requirements of FATF Recommendations that changed since the 2014 mutual evaluation.

  • 5 Dec 2014

    Spain’s measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing This report provides a summary of the anti-money laundering (AML) / counter-terrorist financing(CFT) measures in place in Spain as at the date of the on-site visit (21 April to 7 May 2014). It analyses the level of compliance with the FATF 40 Recommendations and the level of effectiveness of Spain’s AML/CFT system, and provides recommendations on how the system could be strengthened.

  • 22 Oct 2010

    Follow-up Report to the Mutual Evaluation Report of Spain This follow-up report provides an overview of the main changes made to the AML/CFT system in Spain since the adoption of the mutual evaluation report of Spain in June 2006. In October 2010, the FATF recognised that Spain had made significant progress in addressing deficiencies identified in their mutual evaluation report and decided that the country should be removed from the regular follow-up process.

  • 23 Jun 2006

    Mutual Evaluation of Spain The key findings of the FATF Third Mutual Evaluation Report of Spain which was adopted by the FATF Plenary in June 2006.

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