Romania
Overview
Law No. 129/2019 is Romania’s core AML/CFT preventive statute, supplemented by sector rules, EU requirements and subsequent legislative amendments. In 2026, Government Decision No. 269 repealed the former 2011 ONPCSB international-sanctions supervision norms, Order No. 64 introduced the replacement freezing/reporting rules, and Order No. 181 updated the Article 30² notification form under Law No. 129/2019. The 2025 AML reforms include Emergency Ordinance 10/2025 on cryptoasset services and Law 164/2025 on trust beneficial-ownership declarations.
Law 129/2019 and subsequent reforms provide beneficial-ownership transparency obligations and registry mechanisms; later reforms continue to strengthen data accuracy and access.
Obliged entities conduct CDD and suspicious-transaction reporting to ONPCSB under Law 129/2019. ONPCSB’s September 2026 practical guide gives financial auditors sector-specific guidance on AML/CFT risk controls, CDD/beneficial ownership, transaction reporting, records and sanctions implementation without replacing Law No. 129/2019.
Compliance Calendar4
Requirement
Article 7 threshold transaction reports
Authority / Report toONPCSB
Deadline / triggerNo later than 3 working days from the transaction.
Requirement
- Subject scope
- Reporting entities within the relevant Article 7 categories; includes cash reports and sector-specific external-transfer/remittance reports.
- Trigger
- Non-suspicious reportable transactions: cash at least EUR 10,000 equivalent; external account transfers at least EUR 10,000 for credit/financial institutions; remittance at least EUR 2,000 where applicable.
- Filing channel
- Electronic-only through ONPCSB reporting channels / SETD.
Impact
- Consequences of non-compliance
- Late/missing Article 7 reporting is sanctionable under the AML/CFT law; exact fine depends on breach/entity.
- Enforcement authority
- ONPCSB / competent supervisor.
- Operational impact
- Configure threshold aggregation and sector logic separately for cash, external transfers and remittance activity.
Requirement
International-sanctions asset freeze and immediate report
Authority / Report toNational Office for Prevention and Control of Money Laundering (ONPCSB)
Deadline / triggerFreeze without delay and report the implementation measures immediately to ONPCSB.
Requirement
- Subject scope
- Reporting entities supervised and controlled by ONPCSB for implementation of international sanctions freezing funds and economic resources.
- Trigger
- A person, entity, fund or economic resource is subject to an applicable international sanctions freezing measure within the scope of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 202/2008 and Order No. 64/2026.
- Filing channel
- Use the prescribed report form in Annex No. 2 to Order No. 64/2026 and submit by email to [email protected].
Impact
- Consequences of non-compliance
- Breaches are enforceable under the international-sanctions framework; Order No. 64/2026 assigns contravention finding and sanctioning powers to authorised ONPCSB representatives.
- Enforcement authority
- ONPCSB.
- Operational impact
- Maintain sanctions-list monitoring, an immediate freeze workflow, evidential records and an escalation path capable of sending the prescribed report to ONPCSB without delay.
Requirement
Suspicious transaction / activity report
Authority / Report toNational Office for Prevention and Control of Money Laundering (ONPCSB)
Deadline / triggerEvent-driven under Article 6. A single numeric cross-scenario deadline is not asserted in this record without article-level verification.
Requirement
- Subject scope
- Reporting entities under Law No. 129/2019.
- Trigger
- Suspicion criteria under Article 6 and related AML/CFT rules.
- Filing channel
- Electronic-only through ONPCSB channels / SETD reporting environment under the current reporting orders.
Impact
- Consequences of non-compliance
- Failure to submit required reports may constitute an administrative offence and can attract supervisory/enforcement action; exact fine depends on the violated provision/entity.
- Enforcement authority
- ONPCSB and competent sector supervisor.
- Operational impact
- Maintain separate workflow rules for suspicious and threshold reports; do not reuse the three-day objective-report deadline for STRs.
Requirement
Independent AML/CFT audit where Article 24(2) applies
Authority / Report toCompetent sector supervisor / ONPCSB as applicable
Deadline / triggerPeriodic/ongoing governance obligation where applicable; no universal annual date is asserted for all entities.
Requirement
- Subject scope
- Reporting entities within the statutory scope requiring an independent test of AML/CFT policies and controls.
- Trigger
- Applicability threshold/scope under Article 24(2) and the entity’s control framework.
- Filing channel
- Independent/external review retained within governance and supervisory evidence.
- Legal basis
Impact
- Consequences of non-compliance
- Failure to maintain required internal policies/control testing may attract supervisory and administrative consequences under the AML/CFT law.
- Enforcement authority
- ONPCSB / competent sector supervisor.
- Operational impact
- Determine applicability during compliance scoping and keep audit/remediation evidence linked to the entity risk assessment.
Authorities & FIU1
FATF Assessment
Measures how fully the jurisdiction has implemented FATF’s technical requirements. It does not measure practical effectiveness.
Measures whether the AML/CFT system achieves its intended results in practice. Follow-up reports do not normally replace these ratings.
Explore 40 FATF RecommendationsSee every Technical Compliance rating and what it means.+
Explore 11 Immediate OutcomesSee how FATF rates whether the AML/CFT system works in practice.+
Regulatory Timeline43
Romania’s ONPCSB published a practical AML/CFT guide for financial-audit-sector reporting entities under Article 5(1)(e) of Law No. 129/2019, approved by Order No. 238 of 3 September 2026.
ONPCSB Order No. 181/2026, dated 21 July and published in the Official Gazette on 23 July 2026, amends Order No. 145/2022 governing the form and content of the notification required by Article 30² of Law No. 129/2019. The order repeals points (b) and (c) of Article 2 of the earlier order and replaces its annex with an updated notification form.
ONPCSB Order No. 64 of 4 May 2026 and its implementing norms were published in Official Gazette No. 389 on 8 May 2026 and entered into force that day. They govern implementation and supervision of international sanctions requiring the freezing of funds and economic resources by ONPCSB-supervised entities.
Government Decision No. 269 of 23 April 2026, published on 29 April 2026, repeals Government Decision No. 603/2011 and its norms governing ONPCSB supervision of implementation of international sanctions. The decision preserves legal relationships and situations created under the repealed framework that had not fully produced their effects by the new decision’s entry into force.
Law No. 164/2025 was published in Official Gazette No. 978 on 23 October 2025 and entered into force on 26 October 2025. It approves and amends Emergency Ordinance No. 123/2022 concerning Law No. 129/2019, including new Article 57¹ requiring trustees and equivalent persons in similar legal arrangements to declare accurate and complete beneficial ownership data for registration.
FATF revised Recommendation 16 to standardise payment information and strengthen fraud/error controls in cross-border payments.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗Romania published Law No. 86/2025 on 23 May 2025, amending Law No. 129/2019. The law entered into force on 26 May 2025, with points 27–29 of Article I delayed by 30 days.
Emergency Ordinance No. 10/2025 was published and entered into force on 13 March 2025. It amends Law No. 129/2019 to reflect Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 and MiCA, expands relevant cryptoasset service provider and unhosted-address terminology, adds due-diligence duties for cross-border cryptoasset correspondent relationships and removes overlapping domestic licensing provisions.
FATF amended Recommendation 1 and related interpretive material to strengthen proportionality and simplified measures under the risk-based approach.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗FATF revised Recommendations 4, 30, 31 and 38 and related interpretive material to make asset recovery a stronger operational priority, expand tools to trace and confiscate criminal property and improve domestic and international cooperation.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗At its February 2023 Plenary FATF revised Recommendation 25 and its Interpretive Note to strengthen transparency and beneficial-ownership requirements for trusts and similar legal arrangements, complementing the 2022 strengthening of Recommendation 24 for legal persons.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗FATF strengthened Recommendation 24 on beneficial ownership transparency for legal persons.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗FATF amended Recommendations 1 and 2 and their Interpretive Notes so countries and covered private-sector entities must identify, assess and mitigate risks of breaches, non-implementation or evasion of proliferation-related targeted financial sanctions.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗The Basel Committee revised its ML/TF risk-management guidelines to add principles for information exchange and cooperation between prudential and AML/CFT supervisors in authorisation, ongoing supervision and enforcement.
A Basel supervisory publication does not become domestic law merely because it is GLOBAL. National adoption, supervisory use or incorporation must be evidenced by a LOCAL milestone or source.
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision ↗Romania published Law 129/2019, establishing the modern preventive and supervisory framework for money laundering and terrorist financing.
FATF adopted detailed implementation requirements for virtual assets and VASPs in June 2019, including the application of wire-transfer information requirements commonly described as the Travel Rule. This operationalised the virtual-asset perimeter introduced through the 2018 Recommendation 15 revision.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗In October 2018 FATF revised Recommendation 15 and added the definitions of virtual asset and virtual asset service provider, formally bringing virtual-asset activity into the global AML/CFT standards architecture. Detailed implementation requirements followed in 2019.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗The Basel Committee issued Sound management of risks related to money laundering and financing of terrorism, superseding its 2001 CDD and 2004 consolidated KYC papers and integrating ML/TF risk management with prudential supervisory expectations.
A Basel supervisory publication does not become domestic law merely because it is GLOBAL. National adoption, supervisory use or incorporation must be evidenced by a LOCAL milestone or source.
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision ↗FATF adopted a consolidated revised set of 40 Recommendations integrating AML, CFT and proliferation-financing safeguards.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗Resolution 1737 imposed binding measures concerning Iran’s proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities, including an asset freeze on designated individuals and entities. Together with the DPRK regime, it forms a foundational UN counter-proliferation targeted-financial-sanctions architecture.
UN Members agree to accept and carry out Security Council decisions. This current Charter relationship is not proof of the jurisdiction’s domestic implementation, nor a claim about its membership status on the historical event date.
UN Charter · Article 25 ↗Following the DPRK nuclear test, Resolution 1718 imposed binding sanctions including an asset freeze on designated persons and entities connected to the nuclear programme. It became a central UN targeted-financial-sanctions pillar for counter-proliferation financing.
UN Members agree to accept and carry out Security Council decisions. This current Charter relationship is not proof of the jurisdiction’s domestic implementation, nor a claim about its membership status on the historical event date.
UN Charter · Article 25 ↗FATF added a ninth Special Recommendation addressing cash couriers and cross-border movement of currency.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗Resolution 1540 requires all States to adopt and enforce laws and domestic controls to prevent non-State actors from acquiring or using weapons of mass destruction and related materials. It forms a binding global legal pillar of the proliferation-financing control environment later reflected in FATF CPF standards.
UN Members agree to accept and carry out Security Council decisions. This current Charter relationship is not proof of the jurisdiction’s domestic implementation, nor a claim about its membership status on the historical event date.
UN Charter · Article 25 ↗The UN General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against Corruption on 31 October 2003. UNCAC addresses prevention of money laundering, laundering of corruption proceeds, confiscation and a dedicated asset-recovery framework; the Convention entered into force globally on 14 December 2005.
Current UN depositary relationship to 2003 UN Convention against Corruption. This is not a claim that the jurisdiction was already a Party on the GLOBAL event date; the national accession/ratification date is a separate LOCAL/STATUS fact.
UN Treaty Collection ↗FATF comprehensively revised its AML/CFT Recommendations, strengthening preventive measures and extending coverage.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗Law No. 656/2002 replaced Law 21/1999 and recast Romania’s preventive, reporting and institutional AML framework before the later consolidation in Law 129/2019.
Romania is listed among the 22 countries participating in MONEYVAL's first evaluation round in the March 2002 review cited by the 2007 Horizontal Review. This confirms membership/participation by March 2002 but does not establish the original admission date.
The Basel Committee issued Customer due diligence for banks, setting minimum supervisory expectations for customer acceptance, identification, ongoing monitoring and risk management. It became an influential global banking KYC/CDD benchmark and was later reflected in FATF standards.
A Basel supervisory publication does not become domestic law merely because it is GLOBAL. National adoption, supervisory use or incorporation must be evidenced by a LOCAL milestone or source.
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision ↗FATF expanded its standards to terrorist financing through eight Special Recommendations.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗Resolution 1373 requires all States to prevent and suppress terrorist financing, criminalise the provision or collection of funds for terrorist acts, freeze terrorist assets without delay and prohibit making funds or financial services available to terrorists and related entities.
UN Members agree to accept and carry out Security Council decisions. This current Charter relationship is not proof of the jurisdiction’s domestic implementation, nor a claim about its membership status on the historical event date.
UN Charter · Article 25 ↗The Palermo Convention was adopted on 15 November 2000 and broadened the international money-laundering framework beyond drug proceeds through criminalisation and preventive measures tied to transnational organised crime. It entered into force globally on 29 September 2003.
Current UN depositary relationship to 2000 Palermo Convention. This is not a claim that the jurisdiction was already a Party on the GLOBAL event date; the national accession/ratification date is a separate LOCAL/STATUS fact.
UN Treaty Collection ↗The Egmont Group's official Member FIU Information register records Romania's FIU admission date as 2000-05-15.
The UN General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism on 9 December 1999, creating the treaty framework for criminalising terrorist financing and international cooperation. It entered into force globally on 10 April 2002.
Current UN depositary relationship to 1999 Terrorist Financing Convention. This is not a claim that the jurisdiction was already a Party on the GLOBAL event date; the national accession/ratification date is a separate LOCAL/STATUS fact.
UN Treaty Collection ↗Resolution 1267 imposed an assets freeze and other targeted sanctions in the Taliban context and created the Security Council committee that became the foundation of the UN 1267 sanctions architecture. It is a key global precursor to modern terrorist-financing targeted financial sanctions.
UN Members agree to accept and carry out Security Council decisions. This current Charter relationship is not proof of the jurisdiction’s domestic implementation, nor a claim about its membership status on the historical event date.
UN Charter · Article 25 ↗Law No. 21 of 18 January 1999, published on 21 January, established Romania’s first dedicated framework for preventing and sanctioning money laundering, including suspicious-transaction reporting.
The 1999 law established the National Office for Preventing and Combating Money Laundering as the central authority receiving and analysing AML information, creating the institutional predecessor of today’s ONPCSB architecture.
Official FATF history records Romania among the original PC-R-EV membership cohort and identifies Georgia separately as joining later in May 1999. PC-R-EV was established in September 1997; the Council of Europe terms trace the establishing decision to the 600th Ministers’ Deputies meeting on 10 September 1997.
FATF revised the Forty Recommendations to reflect evolving money-laundering methods and countermeasures.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗Representatives of 13 financial intelligence units met in Brussels on 9 June 1995 and founded what became the Egmont Group. The milestone created the operational global network for FIU-to-FIU cooperation and exchange of financial intelligence.
Current profile relationship to the Egmont network. This does not imply membership in 1995; admission history is a separate LOCAL/STATUS fact.
Egmont Group · Member FIUs ↗FATF issued its original Forty Recommendations, establishing the first global AML standard framework.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗The G7 established FATF in 1989 to examine and develop measures to combat money laundering. FATF became the central global standard-setting body whose recommendations are implemented through national and regional AML/CFT frameworks.
Current relationship. This is regional assessment network participation, not direct FATF membership. The GLOBAL standard remains separate from evidence of domestic implementation.
FATF Global Network ↗The Vienna Convention was adopted on 20 December 1988 and created the first treaty-level international obligation to criminalise laundering conduct linked to drug-trafficking proceeds, alongside confiscation and international-cooperation measures. It entered into force globally on 11 November 1990.
Current UN depositary relationship to 1988 Vienna Convention. This is not a claim that the jurisdiction was already a Party on the GLOBAL event date; the national accession/ratification date is a separate LOCAL/STATUS fact.
UN Treaty Collection ↗The Basel Committee published a Statement of Principles for banks aimed at reducing the risk that banking institutions would be used by criminals or as channels for money laundering. This helped establish the preventive and supervisory side of AML alongside the emerging criminal-law framework.
A Basel supervisory publication does not become domestic law merely because it is GLOBAL. National adoption, supervisory use or incorporation must be evidenced by a LOCAL milestone or source.
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision ↗