More than a year has been waiting for the adoption of the Law on Confiscation and Management of Assets, and the Law on Targeted Financial Sanctions for Terrorism, Terrorist Financing and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The deadline expires at the end of February, if Bosnia and Herzegovina wants to avoid re-entering the gray list of international bodies for the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
At the beginning of the year, the European Union warned that it is necessary for the competent institutions to act urgently and approach the adoption of two laws. They state that the establishment of the register of real owners of legal entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina is something that has been long overdue, and requires urgent action by the entity and Brčko District.
From the Delegation of the European Union for Detector explain that within the Growth Plan, before each disbursement of funds, the European Commission evaluates the recommendations of international bodies such as the Council of Europe, one of whose committees is Moneyval.
“Being placed on the gray list may affect the assessment of the European Commission”, said the EU Delegation, but they added that being placed on the list will not automatically mean the suspension of all payments.
At the end of 2025, the European Commission positively evaluated the Reform Agenda of Bosnia and Herzegovina – a key step towards the approval of almost one billion euros within the EU Instrument for Reforms and Growth, with the aim of accelerating economic development and bringing these countries closer to EU standards.
If two state laws are not adopted by the end of February, BiH will, in addition to questioning the growth plan funds, experience harmful consequences for the economy, the financial system and the living standards of citizens, Detektor interlocutors warn.
A year ago, the FATF – an international organization that leads global action in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing – began a one-year period of monitoring the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to a series of identified deficiencies in the domestic framework for preventing money laundering and combating terrorism.
Pending laws
For the last two years, the BiH Ministry of Justice has been making efforts to finalize the Law on Confiscation and Management of Illegally Acquired Assets with the working group, Minister Davor Bunoza claims.
He states that he is aware of the consequences for Bosnia and Herzegovina if the law is not adopted soon and that he hopes for a faster solution for the registration of confiscated property and the body that would manage it.
The Law on Limiting the Disposal of Assets for the Purpose of Preventing Terrorism, Financing Terrorism and Financing the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction, which foresees the effective implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, is in the final stage and is expected to be referred to the further adoption procedure by the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, according to the Ministry of Security of BiH.
Adoption of the Moneyval report
“With the adoption of this law, we plan to eliminate a significant number of deficiencies identified in the last Moneyval report from 2024 and additionally align our system with international standards and obligations,” they state.
They expect the full commitment of all competent institutions at all levels of government in order to implement the remaining obligations within the set deadlines, and to prevent BiH from ending up on the FATF gray list again, where it was previously.
The adoption of the Moneyvala report is expected in the middle of this year.
Nezir Pivić, head of the Moneyval Delegation in the previous convocation of the Council of Ministers, reminded Detektor that in December 2024, Moneyval adopted a report for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Part of the report is the so-called ‘Recommended actions’, 75 percent of which Bosnia and Herzegovina should have implemented in the period December 2024 – December 2025 in order to avoid the FATF gray list,” said Pivić, who is an active member of the Democratic Action Party.
