The group of persons required to apply measures against money laundering and against the
financing of terrorism will be expanded according to a Bill to Amend the Measures Against Money Laundering Act, approved by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.

The requirement will also apply to health insurance companies and any person who, by occupation, performs commodity transactions to an amount exceeding 30,000 leva or its foreign currency equivalent.

The Bill is aimed to align Bulgarian anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing legislation with EU law, the Government Press Service said.

The Bill further proposes simplified or enhanced measures against money laundering and against the financing of terrorism, based on an assessment of existing risks.

Simplified identification measures will be applied where the client is a Bulgarian state body or an institution with powers arising from the EU Treaty, the Community Treaties or secondary Community legislation.

Banks will be exempt from the identification requirement where a bank account owned by a notary or a legal consultant is used to deposit money of a client of the notary or legal consultant.
Simplified measures will not be applicable in identifying citizens of countries which do not apply international anti-money laundering standards.

The Bill offers detailed regulations concerning the obligations of any credit institution which enters into a correspondent bank relationship with a credit institution in a third country whose legislation does not contain requirements corresponding to the requirements under this Act.

The Bulgarian National Bank or credit institutions may decline to identify a client by invoking an earlier identification carried out by another credit institution, under certain conditions.