Bulgaria removed from FATF grey list after three years of increased monitoring

Bulgaria is no longer on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international body that sets standards against money laundering and terrorist financing. The decision was taken at the FATF plenary meeting in Paris on 30 October 2026, and the organisation published the change the same day.

In its statement, the FATF welcomed Bulgaria's significant progress and said the country had met the commitments in the action plan agreed after the deficiencies identified in October 2023. The list of completed steps includes adopting an action plan for the national anti-money laundering strategy, risk-based supervision of postal money operators, currency exchange offices and real estate agents, market entry controls for virtual asset service providers, accurate beneficial ownership data in the register, and an automated system for prioritising suspicious transaction reports.

The FATF also pointed to better investigations and prosecutions of money laundering linked to high-level corruption and organised crime, confiscation pursued as a policy objective, and parallel financial investigations in terrorism cases. It said Bulgaria should continue to work with MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe's monitoring body, to sustain the improvements.

Prime Minister Rumen Radev announced the decision in an address to citizens after being informed by Justice Minister Nikolay Naydenov, BTA reported. Radev said leaving the list had been a key priority in the government's programme. In his view, the change will bring greater confidence in the country, more investment and jobs, better protection against online and telephone fraud, and a smaller grey economy. He added that it would make payments to and from other countries faster and easier.

Bulgaria was placed on the list in October 2023. In June 2026 the FATF gave a preliminary green light for removal, leaving one on-site visit to confirm that the reforms were lasting, the Justice Ministry said at the time.

For companies, the practical effect is mainly in banking. Grey-list status usually leads foreign banks and payment providers to apply enhanced checks to transactions with the listed country. Removal does not end customer due diligence, but it takes away one formal reason for extra scrutiny. Bulgaria, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Monaco were all taken off the list at the October plenary, the FATF said.