Central Bank Oversight to Cover Financial Groups

The regulatory and supervisory mandate of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) will encompass entire financial groups alongside individual institutions, following the Milli Majlis's approval of amendments to the Law "On the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan" in the third reading.

The approved bill establishes a revised version of Article 48-1, dedicated to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT). Prepared in line with FATF Recommendations 26 and 27 highlighted in the Council of Europe’s MONEYVAL 5th round mutual evaluation report, the framework empowers the regulator to conduct consolidated group-wide supervision over conglomerates comprising commercial banks, life insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, investment firms, and investment funds.