Name
Global FinTech Guide
Country _ Name
Albania
SectionTitle
KYC requirements
Body
The know your customer or know your client (KYC) guidelines and regulations for financial services require that professionals try to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with maintaining a business relationship.

Legal affairs

National regulatory framework regarding AML and effective date of the regulations

The AML Law in Albania – i.e. Law no. 9917, dated 19.5.2008 "On prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing", has been approved in 2008 and has been amended several times since then, with the last amendment dating 21 July 2023. It is the main piece of legislation regarding AML in Albania together with Regulation no. 44/2009 "On prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing" (AML Regulation) that is related to the banking/financing sector.


National regulator or relevant authority for AML controls

The relevant authority is the General Directorate on Prevention of Money Laundering.


Customer Due Diligence

Conduct of a typical KYC identification process

The AML Law prescribes the documents required for know your client procedure (KYC). The receiving bank must collect the following data:

  • Identification data: Business name, date of incorporation and registration, form of the entity, scope of the activity, Taxpayer Identification Number, legal seat, legal representative, and his personal data;
  • Ultimate beneficiaries: collect data about who the ultimate beneficiaries and his/her identification data.
  • Transaction data: business relationship between parties in the transaction, including but not limited to transactional document, transaction value, currency, execution date, form of execution, and data which are relevant to origin of the money.
  • The AML Law prescribes the transactions for which the due diligence is required as follows:
  • before establishing a business relationship;
  • when the customer carries out or intends to carry out:
    • money transfer within the country or abroad or a transaction at an equal amount or exceeding ALL 100,000 (approx., EUR 1,000) or its equivalent value in foreign currencies, for certain entities only as well as entities providing transfer services, foreign exchange, or gaming services;
    • transactions at an equal amount of not less than ALL 1,000,000 (approx., EUR 10,000) or its equivalent value in other foreign currencies, executed in a single transaction or in several linked transactions. If the transactions value is not known at the time of operation, the identification shall be performed as soon as the amount is known, and the above threshold is reached;
    • if there are doubts about the veracity of the previously obtained identification data;
  • in all cases when, regardless of the reporting thresholds stipulated herein, there are doubts about money laundering or financing of terrorism.
Further, the AML Law establishes the due diligence measures which must be taken into consideration by the relevant entity.
The identification process of new customers based on the AML Regulation does not necessarily require the physical presence of the customers at the premises of the bank. However, in practice, the banks will require the legal presence of the customer, hence face-to-face identification in addition to submission of a passport or ID document. For the identification of customers in respect of which extended diligence is needed, the mandatorily physical presence of the customers

Possibility to meet customer due diligence requirements by relying on third parties who are obliged by law themselves to comply with AML regulations

This is not expressly regulated. As a rule, in the banking/financing sector the due diligence requirements should be met in-house according to strict rules of the AML Regulation and AML Law. However, it is possible for the bank to engage professional advisors such as notary, attorneys, financial consultants, and thus outsource certain components to external parties for verification reasons. The liability and responsibility, however, of the proper due diligence in accordance with the law will sit with the bank/financing institution.

Possibility to outsource customer due diligence by contract to other third parties who are not obliged by law to meet AML regulations and rely on these (e.g., WebID, IDnow, PostIdent)

This is not expressly regulated but it is implied that it is not.

Presence of a license or registration requirement for the third party in case of outsourcing customer due diligence

Not regulated.


Further questions

Entities that could be relied on specifically by law as a third party to comply with AML regulations (regardless of outsourcing)


Yes credit institutions
Yes financial institutions
Yes auditors, external accountants, and tax advisors
Yes notaries and other independent legal professionals
  other trust or company service providers
Yes estate agents
  other persons trading high-value goods
  providers of gambling services


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