National risk assessment – the Croatian features
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-02-2021-0016 |
| Published date | 13 October 2021 |
| Date | 13 October 2021 |
| Pages | 388-400 |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial compliance/regulation,Financial crime |
| Author | Sonja Cindori |
National risk assessment –the
Croatian features
Sonja Cindori
Department of Financial Law and Financial Science, Faculty of Law,
University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper isto present the risk of the non-financial sector in Croatia concerning
the threats of moneylaundering through the prism of national and supranationalrisk assessment. In addition
to a brief overview of the financial sector,the specifics of the non-financial sector have been highlighted. This
paper aims to emphasize the peculiarities of the non-financial sector, focusing on the consequences of
arbitraryapplication on the right to professional secrecy and independence.
Design/methodology/approach –Specifics of the national risk assessment in Croatia have been
analyzed using deductiveand inductive methods. To provide an overview of the non-financialsector, the risk
assessment at the supranational level has been discussed and compared with the national one. Particular
attentionhas been paid to the areas of increased risk.
Findings –The effectivenessof risk assessment depends on several factors such as the characteristicof the
sector being observed, the specificsof each profession or business,changes at the level of awareness-raising
and efficient and coherent supervision. Most deficiencies were observed in the area of beneficial ownership
identification,conducting due diligence, awarenessof the risk exposure and permanent education.
Originality/value –By recognizing the risk profile faced by the non-financialsector, this paper seeks to
point out their role as “Gatekeepers”that is far from being negligible. By analyzing the risk of money
laundering in Croatia, the tendencies of harmonization with international standards are pointed out along
with the occurrencesindicated by the practice.
Keywords Risk factors, Croatia, Risk assessment, Due diligence, Money laundering,
Gambling, independence, Beneficial ownership, Non-financial sector, Legal professional privilege,
Professional secrecy
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The risk-based approach is crucial to the effective implementation of the FATF
Recommendations. It assumes that countries, competent authorities, and obliged entities
identify, assess, and finally understand the scale and impact of the money laundering and
terrorist financing (hereafter ML/TF) risk to which they are exposed. Following the
identified level of risk, they establish the most effective preventive measures to mitigate it.
In terms of de-risking, it is better to learnhow to manage risk than to avoid it.
The importance of national risk assessment, based on supranational one, is emphasized.
As a result of timely detected and well-understood the national level of risk, country
authorities should apply anti-money laundering and terrorist financing measures (hereafter
© Sonja Cindori. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and
create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to
full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at
http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
JMLC
25,2
388
Journalof Money Laundering
Control
Vol.25 No. 2, 2022
pp. 388-400
EmeraldPublishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/JMLC-02-2021-0016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1368-5201.htm
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