Albania signs up to Council of Europe Convention

Albania has ratified the Council of Europe’s Convention on Money Laundering, imposing a duty on this poverty-stricken Balkan country to establish laws that allow the seizure of the proceeds of crime, even if these offences were committed abroad. The convention commits the Albanian authorities to cooperate with other signatory states on tracking down laundered money and freezing bank accounts where it is held. Other commitments cover investigative assistance, the lifting of bank secrecy, and the forwarding of unsolicited information to another state.