Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan publishes second national AML CFT risk assessment rating overall ML TF risk as low

The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan has completed and published its Second National Risk Assessment (NRA) of the country’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework, coordinated by its Financial Intelligence Department with technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund. The assessment concludes that Bhutan’s overall money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risk is low and rates the overall long-term consequence of ML/TF as minor. The NRA assesses risk through three dimensions covering threats, vulnerabilities and consequences across financial and non-financial sectors. Major threats are perceived to arise from proceeds of crime linked to corruption, illegal gambling, fraud, illicit drug trafficking and smuggling, while key vulnerabilities include limited institutional capacity and expertise and enforcement challenges in detecting, prosecuting and convicting ML/TF offences. Work on the assessment involved an NRA working group drawing participation from agencies including the Anti-Corruption Commission, Royal Bhutan Police, Department of Revenue and Customs, Department of Law and Order, Department of Immigration, Office of the Attorney General, Civil Society Organization Authority, Commission for Religious Organization, Bhutan Food and Drug Authority and financial institutions. Building on the first NRA conducted in 2017, the second assessment is positioned as an input to risk-based AML/CFT policy, supervision and resource allocation, including development of a National AML/CFT Strategy and Action Plan to address identified risks.